Alabama's Brandon Miller was a consensus five-star prospect in the Class of 2022, and guys like that always come with big expectations. Sometimes they meet them. Other times they do not. Safe to say, Miller is the former.
The 6-9 freshman continued his stellar first (and likely only) year of college basketball Tuesday night in the Crimson Tide's 91-88 win over Memphis. Miller took 13 shots, made seven of them and finished with 24 points, eight rebounds and five assists in 33 minutes. He sank four of the eight 3-pointers he attempted, and is now averaging team-highs in points (18.5) and rebounds (8.4) while shooting 43.7% from 3-point range on 7.1 attempts per game.
"He wants to win," said Alabama coach Nate Oats. "He's a kid who is really invested in Alabama basketball [and] wants to make us as good a team as we can be. When we need him to rebound, defend, get some deflections, he's been able to do that for us."
And then some.
Miller has scored at least 24 points three times and is the biggest reason Alabama is 9-1 with wins over Houston, North Carolina and Memphis. The lone defeat is an 82-67 loss to a UConn team that's 11-0 with 11 double-digit wins. That's a strong resume for Alabama and why the Crimson Tide remains No. 4 in Wednesday morning's updated CBS Sports Top 25 And 1 daily college basketball rankings.
Next up for Alabama is Saturday's showdown with Gonzaga in Birmingham. The Zags, ranked 12th in the Top 25 And 1, will enter the game with an 8-3 record featuring wins over Kentucky, Xavier and Michigan State and losses to Purdue, Texas and Baylor.
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Top 25 And 1 rankings
Rk | Teams | Chg | Rcrd | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |  | Zach Edey finished with 11 points and 17 rebounds in Saturday's 65-62 win at Nebraska. The Boilermakers' next game is Saturday against Davidson. | -- | 29-6 |
| 2 |  | Jayden Gardner finished with 14 points and eight rebounds in Tuesday's 55-50 win over James Madison. The Cavaliers' next game is Saturday against Houston. | -- | 25-8 |
| 3 |  | Donovan Clingan finished with21 points and 11 rebounds in Saturday's 114-61 win over Long Island University. The Huskies' next game is Saturday at Butler. | -- | 28-8 |
| 4 |  | Brandon Miller finished with 24 points and eight rebounds in Tuesday's 91-88 win over Memphis. The Crimson Tide's next game is Saturday against Gonzaga. | -- | 31-6 |
| 5 |  | Marcus Sasser finished with 17 points and four rebounds in Tuesday's 74-46 win over North Carolina A&T. The Cougars' next game is Saturday at Virginia. | -- | 33-4 |
| 6 |  | Timmy Allen finished with 15 points and three assists in Monday's 87-81 overtime win over Rice. The Longhorns' next game is Sunday against Stanford. | -- | 29-8 |
| 7 |  | Ricky Council IV finished with 26 points and five assists in Saturday's 88-78 win over Oklahoma. The Razorbacks' next game is Saturday against Bradley. | -- | 22-14 |
| 8 |  | Azuolas Tubelis finished with 20 points and 13 rebounds in Tuesday's 99-61 win over Texas A&M-Corpus Christi. The Wildcats' next game is Saturday against Tennessee. | -- | 28-7 |
| 9 |  | Tolu Smith finished with 20 points and five rebounds in Sunday's 69-51 win at Minnesota. The Bulldogs' next game is Wednesday against Jackson State. | -- | 21-13 |
| 10 |  | Indiana allowed Arizona to shoot 49.2% from the field in Saturday's 89-75 loss to the Wildcats. The Hoosiers' next game is Saturday at Kansas. | -- | 23-12 |
| 11 |  | Keyonte George finished with 22 points and six assists in Tuesday's 80-57 win over Tarleton State. The Bears' next game is Sunday against Washington State. | -- | 23-11 |
| 12 |  | Drew Timme finished with 26 points and six rebounds in Monday's 88-67 win over Northern Illinois. The Zags' next game is Saturday against Alabama. | -- | 31-5 |
| 13 |  | Zakai Zeigler finished with 12 points and three assists in Sunday's 56-53 win over Maryland. The Vols' next game is Saturday at Arizona. | -- | 25-11 |
| 14 |  | Oscar Tshiebwe finished with 28 points and 12 rebounds in Saturday's 69-59 win over Yale. The Wildcats' next game is Saturday against UCLA. | -- | 22-12 |
| 15 |  | Jalen Wilson finished with 24 points and 10 rebounds in Saturday's 95-67 win at Missouri. The Jayhawks' next game is Saturday against Indiana. | -- | 28-8 |
| 16 |  | Dariq Whitehead finished with 15 points and two assists in Saturday's 82-55 win over Maryland-Eastern Shore. The Blue Devils' next game is Dec. 20 at Wake Forest. | -- | 27-9 |
| 17 |  | Maryland missed 22 of the 24 3-pointers it attempted in Sunday's 56-53 loss to Tennessee. The Terrapins' next game is Wednesday against UCLA. | -- | 22-13 |
| 18 |  | Illinois allowed Penn State to shoot 50% from the field in Saturday's 74-59 loss to the Nittany Lions. The Illini's next game is Saturday against Alabama A&M. | -- | 20-13 |
| 19 |  | Jaylen Clark finished with 24 points and four rebounds in Saturday's 87-64 win over Denver. The Bruins' next game is Wednesday at Maryland. | -- | 31-6 |
| 20 |  | Kam Jones finished with 25 points and six rebounds in Sunday's 79-64 win at Notre Dame. The Golden Eagles' next game is Friday against Creighton. | -- | 29-7 |
| 21 |  | Zed Key finished with 22 points and 14 rebounds in Thursday's 67-66 win over Rutgers. The Buckeyes' next game is Saturday against North Carolina. | -- | 16-19 |
| 22 |  | Kevin Obanor finished with 25 points and 10 rebounds in Tuesday's 77-70 win over Eastern Washington. The Red Raiders' next game is Saturday against Jackson State. | -- | 16-16 |
| 23 |  | Tyler Wahl finished with 21 points and four steals in Sunday's 78-75 win at Iowa. The Badgers' next game is Thursday against Lehigh. | -- | 20-14 |
| 24 |  | Souley Boum finished with 17 points and seven assists in Tuesday's 79-59 win over Southern. The Musketeers' next game is Friday at Georgetown. | -- | 27-10 |
| 25 |  | Emmitt Matthews finished with 16 points and nine rebounds in Saturday's 81-70 win over UAB. The Mountaineers' next game is Sunday against Buffalo. | -- | 19-15 |
| 26 |  | Jordan Miller finished with 25 points and five rebounds in Saturday's 80-73 win over NC State. The Hurricanes' next game is Saturday against St. Francis. | -- | 28-7 |
