NASHVILLE - Alabama looked like a typical, one-and-done basketball team for midway through the second half of Thursday's first-round, Southeastern Conference tournament game against South Carolina.
Some of the thousands of Kentucky fans stuffed inside Bridgestone Arena began chatting with each other about a quarterfinal matchup with the Wildcats' pint-sized nemesis, South Carolina senior point guard Devan Downey.
All the Gamecocks had to do was protect a 54-36 lead in the final 11 minutes, 20 seconds, and they'd get a chance to stun the Big Blue SEC champions for the second time this season.
But they collapsed.
Alabama scored 32 of the game's final 41 points, and the Crimson Tide shocked the Gamecocks for a 68-63 win that started the tournament with style.
The Tide (17-14, 7-10 SEC), not the Gamecocks (15-16, 6-11), will play Kentucky (27-2, 14-2) this afternoon.
"I couldn't be prouder of our guys," normally-reserved, first-year Alabama coach Anthony Grant said. "Our guys, I thought, showed great toughness and a great will - even when things were going bad - to stay together and to fight.
"That was a great win. Obviously, we're excited to still be a part of the tournament."
Senior point guard Mikhail Torrance slashed inside for a layup that capped the Tide's 26-5 run and gave them a 62-59 lead with 1:40 left.
Downey missed an opportunity to tie the game with 18 seconds left, making just one of two free throws to get the Gamecocks within 64-63.
* Florida 78
Auburn 69
Alex Tyus scored 24 points, and Florida snapped a three-game skid by beating Auburn.
Coach Billy Donovan didn't want to discuss how many wins his Gators need to ensure their first NCAA tournament berth since they won their second straight national title in 2007. Now Florida (21-11), already 7-0 against the SEC West, has a chance to add another win Friday night against Mississippi State, the West's No. 1 seed, in the quarterfinals.
Auburn (15-17) beat Florida in the quarterfinals last year. But the Tigers now have lost 12 of 13 games to Florida.
Chandler Parsons scored 21 points for Florida, and Vernon Macklin had 10.
Frankie Sullivan scored a career-high 27 points for Auburn. DeWayne Reed added 18 and Lucas Hargrove 11.
*Georgia 77
Arkansas 64
Trey Thompkins had 23 points and 14 rebounds, and Georgia beat Arkansas to advance to take on No. 20 Vanderbilt tonight..
Travis Leslie scored 21 for the Bulldogs (14-16), the No. 6 seed in the SEC East Division.
Georgia took a 43-32 lead immediately after halftime on a 3-point play by Jeremy Price.
Arkansas' Mike Washington made all four free throws on back-to-back trips to the charity stripe to cut the Bulldogs' lead to 52-49 with 10:22 left. The Razorbacks (14-18) continued to threaten in the second half but never pulled any closer.
The Bulldogs grabbed 16 offensive rebounds, nine more than Arkansas, and turned them into 19 second-chance points.
Washington finished with 20 points and Courtney Fortson added 16.
The Associated Press contributed to this story.