It’s been less than two weeks since Darius Miles was arrested on capital murder charges and his now-former Alabama basketball teammates are now speaking about the situation for the first time

Players had not been available to reporters until Friday morning before flying to Oklahoma.

“It’s been a tough couple of weeks,” senior Noah Gurley said, “but we’re in the middle of the season so we’ve just been leaning on each other and still focused on playing games and winning.”

Nimari Burnett, who like Gurley, is a transfer in his second year at Alabama, echoed the sentiment.

“Yeah, it honestly hasn’t been easy,” Burnett said, “but that’s why we have each other and we have a coaching staff to rely on. We’re growing.”

Miles and 20-year-old Michael Lynn Davis remain in jail on charges related to the early-Jan. 15 shooting of Jamea Jonae Harris, 23, of Birmingham.

Alabama coach Nate Oats said Gurley has been a particularly strong leader these past two weeks. An experienced player whose father is a pastor, Gurley leads the team in prayer before every game.

“I start by being vulnerable,” Gurley said. “I think if they see that, everyone is more vulnerable. Praying and just talking to the guys and checking in on them. Everybody is looking out for each other in this situation. We established that.”

Another veteran, Jahvon Quinerly, was a teammate of Miles for the past three seasons.

“Quinerly has been through a lot and he’s been here every year we’ve been here,” Oats said. “He’s been good. He was really close to Darius — one of the guys closest to him on the team.”

No. 2 Alabama (18-2) faces Oklahoma at 1 p.m. CT Saturday as part of the SEC/Big 12 Challenge. It will be the fourth game played by the Crimson Tide since Miles’ arrest with a 78-66 over Vanderbilt coming just two days later. Oats after the game described an emotional scene in the locker room.

Gurley on Friday spoke about that night.

“It felt good to get the win, for the most part,” he said. “When we’re on that court, we can’t focus on anything in the outside world. Basketball is our safe space. I think we play with a lot of energy, to be honest.”

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