The Alabama Crimson Tide basketball team opened their season with a 92-61 victory over North Dakota on Monday night. The Tide was playing short handed with four players that will be looked on to play big minutes out with injuries. Aden Holloway was held out with a wrist injury, Latrell Wrightsell had a bad finger, Keitenn Bristow was seen on the bench wearing a boot, as was Jalil Bethea who broke his foot several weeks ago. The contest was a return game for the Tide traveling to North Dakota last season, where the Tide pulled out a 97-90 victory. Alabama made the trip to honor senior player Grant Nelson with a trip home.
Coach Nate Oats sent out a starting five of Labaron Philon, Amari Allen, Taylor Bol Bowen, Houston Mallette, and Aiden Sherrell. The Tide got off to a quick start with Philon leading the way. London Jamison entered the game early and hit a three pointer, followed by one from Mallette, and Bama had a 19-9 with 14:50 left in the half. Philon, Allen, and Sherrell all hit from downtown for a 39-24 lead at the 4:50 mark. Allen nailed another from long range right before the half ended and the Tide carried a 48-32 lead into the locker room at half time.
Alabama shot 17-31 for 55% in the 1st stanza, including 7-16 from behind the arc, and knocked down 7-8 from the charity stripe. Bama grabbed 23 rebounds, dished out 13 assists, blocked five shots, pilfered two balls, and turned the ball over seven times. Philon scored 15 points on 6-7 shooting, distributed seven assists, blocked a shot, and turned the ball over two times. Allen scored eight, and rebounded five misses while Mallette and Jemison contributed six points each.
The Fighting Hawks shot 13-31 for 42% with 3-8 from three point range. ND was 3-5 at the feee throw line and had only 10 rebounds in the half. The Hawks had eight assists, six steals, and four turnovers. Garrett Anderson led the team with nine points.
The Tide came out with the same starters for the second half, but Jemison replaced Bol Bowen early in the period and immediately made an impact with a hoop at the rim. Fellow freshman Davion Hannah made his presence felt with a three pointer from the corner to give Bama a 61-36 lead with 16 minutes left. Oats was substituting liberally with only nine players available. Mallette and Philon helped keep the lead at a comfortable margin, and Hannah put an exclamation point with a rousing dunk as he charged in from the corner. To the Hawks credit they never gave up and were able to keep the margin under the point spread of 31.5, with the 91-62 final.
Alabama shot 14-27 for 52%, but only 1-11 from three point range in the half. Overall the Tide finished 31-58 for 52%, 8-27 for 29.6% from three, 21-27 for 78% at the line, gathered 46 total rebounds, 22 assists, blocked seven shots, had eight steals, and committed 15 turnovers. Philon was the player of the game with 22 points, three rebounds, eight assists, one block, and turned the ball over four times. Allen won the hard hat award after his 12 point, seven rebound, five assist, three steal, and one block game in his college debut. Mallette showed senior (well graduate) leadership with 15 points, eight rebounds, and three assists. Jemison also reached double figures with a dozen points. Sherrell played 20 minutes and scored nine points with four rebounds and blocked four shots in his longest stint on the court in his Alabama career. Hannah notched nine points with three rebounds, two assits, and three steals.
In the second half North Dakota shot 11-31 for 35% and 2-12 from deep. Overall the Hawks finished 24-62 for 39%, 5-20 for 25% from deep, and made 9-17 at the free throw line. NDU had 26 rebounds, 13 assists, 11 steals, 1 block, and committed 10 turnovers. Anderson led the team with 13 points and Eli King added 11 points.
A good start to the season for the Tide, the heralded freshman class got extra minutes with the four upperclassmen out, and did some really good things. Allen was particularly active after getting the starting nod. Jemison showed he is another freshman to watch. Hannah flashed the athleticism that has so many people excited for his future. Sophomore Philon was the clear star, and should have an All-American caliber season.
The defense, particularly on the interior, is still an issue, as well as the turnovers. With the upcoming schedule the team will need to improve those areas. The health of the injured players is the other key to being able to navigate the next several games. The next seven games are a virtual murderers row, starting with a trip to Madison Square Garden to play St John’s this Saturday at 11 a.m.- the game will be shown on FS1. Following that is a home game with number one Purdue, at Illinois, than a trip to Las Vegas to play Gonzaga, UNLV, and an opponent to be determined. After that stretch comes Clemson and UTSA at home and Arizona in Birmingham.
It should be a fun season . Roll Tide
