Nate Oats wasn’t worried about Alabama overlooking Ole Miss and his team showed why Tuesday night.

A 84-62 rout in the SEC home opener saw the No. 7 Crimson Tide lead by as many as 27 points in a game that was only briefly competitive.

Correcting a season-long issue and suffocating defense helped send the Coleman Coliseum fans to the exits early and satisfied. This was an Alabama team that ranked 328th nationally in turnovers (17.1 per game) but gave away a season-low seven on Tuesday. More specifically, it committed turnovers on just 9.9% of possessions after giving away possessions 22.1% of the time, according to Ken Pom.

The previous Alabama turnover season-low was 10 in both the Michigan State and South Dakota State games.

Alabama (12-2, 2-0 SEC) got a game-high 17 points from Brandon Miller — highlighted by a shot clock buzzer-beating 3-pointer from near midcourt to cap his night. Mark Sears added 16 and Jaden Bradley 14 in the rout.

Ole Miss (8-6, 0-2 SEC) got 14 points from Jaemyn Brakefield on a night the visitors shot just 34.8%.

The slow start didn’t last for Alabama. It opened the game 1-for-7 from the field but made 16 of the next 23 to close the first half with a 44-23 lead. Nine of the 10 Alabama players who saw first-half action scored with none in double figures as the wealth was spread.

Alabama was efficient from behind the arc, too. After entering attempting the 40th most 3-pointers nationally, a Jahvon Quinerly make from the corner left the Tide 5-for-8 from long range in the first half. That also included a pull up from Sears several feet behind the line to make it a 31-16 game.

Defensively, Alabama held Ole Miss to 28.6% shooting in the first half when leading scorer Matthew Murrell (14.8 ppg) had just two points. He finished with nine points on 4-for-13 shooting.

Unranked Kentucky is next for Alabama at noon Saturday in Coleman Coliseum.

This story will be updated.

Michael Casagrande is a reporter for the Alabama Media Group. Follow him on Twitter @ByCasagrande or on Facebook.