Alabama went on the road tonight to face a sub-.500 Ole Miss squad and, after sleepwalking early on, they hit the gas and won comfortably by a score of 93-74.
The Tide started this one about as poorly as they are capable on offense. They couldn’t throw the ball in the ocean, finishing the first half at 26% from the field including 5-23 from deep. As a result, the Tide trailed by as much as nine points in the half before rallying late for a 32-30 advantage at the break. Labaron Philon led Alabama in scoring with nine, though he wasn’t efficient. Amari Allen made 2-4 from three to add six points.
The pace of play definitely favored the plodding Rebels. The boards were a draw in the first half, which is not good news for Alabama since Ole Miss is the second-worst rebounding team in the conference. Alabama was -1 in turnover margin with four while forcing three.
Things were much better in the second half. Alabama came out firing, Latrell Wrightsell Jr. in particular, and led by 15 midway through the second half. Ole Miss made a couple of runs but never could get terribly close the rest of the way. Alabama was able to flip the script on pace and burned up the nets. This Ole Miss squad just doesn’t have a ton of offensive firepower, so it doesn’t take a lot to put them away.
Wrightsell led the way with 21 points, all on three pointers. He shot a scorching 7-13 from behind the arc, including 6-10 in the second half. Four other Alabama players joined him in double figures, and Amari Allen led with eight rebounds as he seems to do every night.
Ole Miss ain’t great but it’s always good to get a comfortable win on the road. Next up is a putrid South Carolina team on Saturday night that was blown out at home by Mizzou last time out for their fifth consecutive defeat. That one will be back in Coleman.
Roll Tide.
