TUSCALOOSA, Ala.- Nate Oats wasn't too pleased with his team's performance in the first half of Tuesday night's season opener against Sam Houston, but Alabama quickly turned things around in the second half to open the year with a dominant victory.
No. 20 Alabama went on a 16-2 run coming out of halftime to beat the Bearkats 96-74 inside Coleman Coliseum to start the season in the win column.
"I thought Sam Houston State gave us a good test tonight," Oats said after the game. "They ended up beating us on the glass by three, which is a little disappointing. We've been emphasizing rebounding, and we still for whatever reason are not doing a good job of it. What we did do well on defense is we forced 23 turnovers."
Kentucky transfer Brandon Garrison scored on Alabama's first possession of the second half, and London Jemison followed it up with a 3-pointer on the next possession to push the lead to 45-29, and the Crimson Tide never looked back.
Alabama is known for shooting 3s in Oats' system, but the Crimson Tide shot just 32 percent from beyond the arc in the first half. Despite a slow night from 3, Alabama stll managed to put up nearly 100 points in a 22-point win because of the defensive effort and intensity.
"As poorly as we played at times, particularly in the half court on offense, the last couple years' teams would've never been able to score 96 in a game like this if it wasn't for our defensive intensity," Oats said.
It was a balanced scoring night for the Tide with seven players scoring 8 points or more. Jemison and Boise State transfer Drew Fielder led the charge with 15 points apiece.
Alabama's freshmen showcased their talent with a couple highlight reel dunks from Jaxon Richardson and Tarris Bouie.
The biggest contrast on the stat sheet came in the turnover department. Alabama turned Sam Houston over 23 times leading to 33 points off turnovers. The Crimson Tide had some careless passes in the first half as the players settled into the season, but Alabama finished with just 10 turnovers on the game.
One things Oats put a big emphasis on this offseason was increasing Alabama's size so that it would be a better rebounding team. Alabama got out-rebounded 45-42, which will become an even bigger point of focus for him moving forward.
"I think we had good moments, but we're still not close to our standard," Fielder said after the game. "We're really gonna dive into that in practice and just keep keep focusing on it because we're battling, but we're not close to our standard.
"Us older guys, myself included, need to lead in our action and start to dominate in that way because our team needs it, and that was our big focus in the offseason. That's why I'm here. That's why a lot of guys transferred here. We need to show up and do that."
The Crimson Tide was without Aden Holloway while he finishes serving his suspension for an arrest in March. Holloway was on the bench in the street clothes, fully engaged in the game with his teammates and seated among the coaches. Even without Holloway, Oats was able to 11 players in the game in the first half alone.
Alabama (1-0) will be back in Coleman Coliseum on Friday to take on Arkansas State (1-0) at 6:30 p.m. CT.
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This article was originally published on www.si.com/college/alabama as No. 20 Alabama Basketball Explodes in Second Half for Blowout Win in Season Opener .
