Brandon Miller scores career-high 41 points as No. 2 Alabama outlasts South Carolina in OT

No. 2 Alabama, as a whole, clearly didn't look like itself against South Carolina.

It's not surprising, considering the program was at the center of attention in the sports world the past two days. The Crimson Tide often played without its usual energy and edge that has led to it being a top team, especially early in the game.

Despite being out of sorts at times, the Alabama men still emerged with a 78-76 victory over the Gamecocks in overtime on Wednesday in Columbia, South Carolina, thanks to a dominant effort from Brandon Miller, who scored a career-high 41 points.

The game was played one day after a police investigator testified during a preliminary bond hearing for former Alabama player Darius Miles and Michael Davis that Miller had been at the scene of a fatal shooting on the Tuscaloosa Strip on Jan. 15 and brought the gun to the scene.

Brandon Miller's attorney: Alabama star never touched gun used in fatal shooting, attorney says

More: Alabama unaware of Miles-Miller text until Tuesday hearing, per AD Greg Byrne

Miller has not been charged with a crime, and his attorney said he never touched the gun, was not involved in its exchange and never knew illegal activity involving the gun would occur. Miles, 21, and Davis, 20, who is not affiliated with the basketball program or university, are facing capital murder charges in the shooting death of 23-year-old Jamea Jonae Harris.

Alabama athletic director Greg Byrne, on the ESPN College GameDay podcast, said the school learned new information in the case this week that it used to make its decision to let Miller play. He said coach Nate Oats did not have all facts when he first addressed the media on Tuesday – Oats described Miller’s situation as “Wrong spot at the wrong time” – and didn’t handle things in the best way.

“We’ve addressed that with him,” Byrne said.

Dan Wolken: Alabama coach Nate Oats offers 'tone-deaf' reply to Brandon Miller's alleged role in fatal shooting | Opinion

Oats issued a statement Tuesday night clarifying his "unfortunate remarks" and largely echoed his apology Wednesday night after the game.

"I'm not here to make excuses but I want to make it clear that I didn't have the details from the hearing that morning since I was coming straight from practice, and I used a poor choice of words making it appear like I wasn't taking this tragic situation seriously, which we have throughout the course of it. I sincerely apologize for the that," Oats said Wednesday night.

He cited Byrne's comments when addressing why Miller played. "We make decisions based on available facts, and that's what we did here," Oats said.

Neither Miller nor any other players were made available to the media after the game.

Here are observations and takeaways from the game between No. 2 Alabama (24-4, 14-1 SEC) and South Carolina (10-18, 3-12).

Brandon Miller primary source of Alabama offense

He faced boos from South Carolina fans every time he touched the ball, from the very beginning. Members of the student section chanted, “Lock him up,” and “Guilty!” several times as Miller played. Miller couldn't get in a rhythm the first couple minutes, but then he started to show why he leads the SEC in scoring.

Thanks to some dunks and triples, he tallied 15 points in the first half and had two steals in 18 minutes.

Then at the start of the second half, Miller himself went on a 10-0 run to give Alabama a lead. He scored 35 of Alabama's 68 points in regulation and had the basket that forced overtime. He also drove and scored the basket that gave Alabama the win in the final second of overtime.

While Mark Sears, Noah Clowney and others were struggling to provide consistent offensive production like they often do, Miller put the team on his back. He hit six triples, grabbed eight rebounds and made seven of eight free throws.

Double-digit turnovers pop up on the road again

For the third consecutive SEC road trip, Alabama had double-digit turnovers.

Those were problematic in the first half more than the second. Before the break, the Crimson Tide had eight turnovers that allowed South Carolina to have a halftime lead. Alabama got them under control, though, and finished with 12 turnovers in regulation.

Contributing: Associated Press

This article originally appeared on The Tuscaloosa News: Brandon Miller's career-high 41 points helps No. 2 Alabama avoid upset