An Auburn student named Craig sent the Neville Arena crowd into a frenzy Saturday afternoon. Plucked from the crowd, he drained a full-court, 94-foot putt to win a car and the good times were flowing.

A house of horrors for Alabama when packed like this, a once-in-a-decade fluke was fitting with the hometown Tigers up a point at the time. A year ago, it got ugly on that same patch of hardwood as Auburn players mocked Alabama’s crimson crane as the insult to the 19-point injury.

But, it turns out, Craig’s moment with the flat stick was the climax of the Auburn experience this Saturday afternoon.

And it was Brandon Miller returning the crane pose at midcourt in front of the emptying Jungle student section. The future lottery pick didn’t have a signature performance in the 77-69 win — Alabama’s first in front of a capacity crowd here since 2015 — but that’s what made this notable.

“I know it was their Super Bowl,” Alabama coach Nate Oats said, “so it’s nice to win over here.”

His Crimson Tide improved to 22-3 with its first 12-0 SEC record since 1956 because of the supporting cast and a season-high 59.2 shooting percentage. While the overflowing crowd, and an eternally hostile crowd of 9,121 focused on Miller, Rylan Griffen and Mark Sears flexed this team’s depth. The two went 5-for-8 from the perimeter as Griffen led with 16 points to Sears’ 15.

“We don’t win this game without Rylan,” Oats said.

The freshman from Dallas was 5-for-7 from the field as a calming influence off the bench. For Sears, a Muscle Shoals product who transferred from Ohio, his efficient performance came with a little extra sentiment.

“It’s something you dream of playing since you were a kid,” he said.

Griffen’s 3-pointer with 5:14 came 16 seconds after he blocked Auburn’s Wendell Green on the perimeter. It gave Alabama a 66-62 lead that never got smaller than two the rest of the way.

“Everything they said about Auburn’s crowd is true,” Griffen said later. “It’s loud.”

But it was slightly more docile after his big shots including a dagger of a dunk with 58 seconds left on a fast break following a physical defensive play. While the Neville Arena crowd wanted a foul, his slam made it 75-67 and effectively ended it.

His fourth double-figure outing in the last five games was huge considering Miller was contained in the most relative terms. The 5-star freshman finished with 13 points but his streak of 14 straight games with a made 3-pointer ended with an 0-for-7 afternoon. The last such 0-for from Miller? The Dec. 10 win at No. 1 Houston when it was Noah Clowney’s turn to carry the load.

Auburn (17-8, 7-5 SEC) clearly keyed in on denying Miller the ball early as he took just one shot in the first 10 minutes.

“We’ve had this in the past,” Oats said. “We have to set screens and free him up and use him as a screener too. If they’re not going to help off him, period, you start using him as a screener.”

The Tigers, meanwhile, made 3 of its first 4 from behind the 3-point line after entering as one of the worst deep-shooting teams in the nation and conference. It led the No. 3 Tide by as many as eight early. And while the outcome was still in play until late, a repeat of last year’s 100-81 embarrassment in this gym never felt on the table.

Griffen said they weren’t locked in early on defense but that shifted as Auburn ended the day shooting just 32.3% (20-for-62) compared to Alabama’s 59.2% (29-for-49). The 49 attempts were the fewest of the season for the visitors.

Alabama just had to do it more at the rim after missing its average 10.5 made 3s a game in a 6-for-21 performance. The 28.6% success rate there was sixth-worst this season. Even uglier, the 13-for-23 foul shooting yielded the Tide’s second-worst percentage of the year at 56.5%.

So, again, they did it at the rim.

Alabama was 23-for-28 shooting from inside the arc. Officially, the stats accounted for Alabama going 8-for-8 with dunks and 12-for-16 on layups.

“You can take away the 3s,” Oats said. “But when you shoot 82% at the rim, it’s pretty impressive.”

Jaden Bradley scored six of Alabama’s first eight second-half points by attacking the rim. Griffen described his fellow freshman’s downhill onslaught as the perfect run killer on a day a packed gym was the snowball that never crested the mountain for the audible avalanche that’s become a signature.

“Eventually, you hear the crowd,” Griffen said. “But you don’t hear it.”

When it was over, there wasn’t much of anything to hear outside of the booing home crowd. A clump of Alabama students tried to belt out an acapella Rammer Jammer from the cheap seats after the buzzer before the Auburn pep band drowned it out.

A year ago, that same musical outfit cranked out the Reverse Rammer Jammer as Bruce Pearl and Company mocked Alabama’s touchdown celebration as the No. 1 Tigers won an 18th straight.

That was perhaps a peak and valley for the two programs trading punches for high ground in this heated rivalry. That Auburn team won the SEC but faded late, failing to survive the opening weekend of the NCAA tournament.

This Alabama team’s attempting to avoid cresting in February. A 22nd win in 25 games won’t temper March expectations with April aspirations on a day Craig won a car and the Crimson Tide some respect.

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