Freshman Alabama striker Darius Miles scored seven of his team’s last eight points in a record victory over Georgia on Saturday, including a dunk that drew a memorable reaction from his teammates.
With Alabama leading, 110-81, and less than 30 seconds left, Miles passed through Georgia’s defense and slammed with one hand:
“We know how talented that kid is,” said coach Nate Oats. “We’re just trying to get him to put it all together. I was very happy to see him being able to do that. “
The bank of Alabama reacted accordingly:
“The bank’s reaction was crazy,” said guard Jaden Shackelford. “It’s nice to see someone get what they deserve. This dunk was crazy. It is better to be at SportsCenter. “
Miles is a former six-foot-tall three-star recruit from the IMG Academy in Florida who played high school basketball in Washington, DC His playing time this season was limited mainly to end-of-game situations behind more experienced bank players , but injuries allowed Miles to see the court at the start of Saturday’s contest.
“We are all very happy for him because he works a lot in practice. He pushes us all the time, ”said freshman Josh Primo. “Just by watching him go out and get a few minutes of quality, we know what he can do. So when he went up, we all knew what was going to happen. It was just a crazy time for all of us. “
Later, in the final minute, Miles hit a failed free throw in Georgia with 15 seconds to go. Despite a 31-point lead and the kick timer off, Miles tried another dunk. It was unsuccessful, but Miles was fouled and hit both free throws to take Alabama to 115 points, the second highest in school history.
Television cameras showed Oats walking up to Georgia coach Tom Crean, and broadcasters speculated that Oats was apologizing that Miles had not dribbled the ball to end the game.
Oats explained the situation later.
“What I said [Crean] that’s what I told our people – we had problems with the guys closing the games with a twist, ”said Oats. “So I said to them, ‘Look, since it was below 30 [seconds remaining] with the shooting clock [off] where you don’t have to shoot, I said, dribble, don’t shoot unless they’re pushing you. If they are putting pressure on you, go past them and make a move.
“It’s one of those negotiations where if they are going to continue playing hard with D trying to steal, they still play in the attack, so we are not going to turn the ball. Anyway, we had enough turnovers in the game. So Darius did exactly what I told him to do. They pressed him in the middle of the court, so he passed.
Oats added that he has “a lot of respect” for Crean and worked in his fields when Crean served as Marquette’s head coach.
“I followed him closely in Indiana when I was a high school coach. He’s a guy from Michigan. I have a lot of respect for the state of Michigan, ”continued Oats. “And he was great. I said, ‘Look, Tom, I told them to dribble, unless they press against us.’ And he just said, ‘No, no, no problem.’
“I wanted him to make sure that I wasn’t trying to increase the score. But so have we – you’ve seen us end games with that team before, and it was disastrous. I hate to see us closing games like that. Much better to end the game. “
Crean didn’t care about Miles’s aggression.
“I like Nate very much,” he said. “I don’t like to repeat my conversations, but it was good. I really like Nate. There is nothing sick. No problem. “
Mike Rodak is a reporter for the Alabama Media Group. Follow him on Twitter @mikerodak.