The 1st/2nd Alabama Crimson Tide have become road warriors. After defeating Arkansas in Fayetteville on Saturday, the Tide flew straight to Austin, Texas to get ready for Tuesday night’s game with the Texas Longhorns. Bama continued their winning ways on the road with a dominating 103-80 victory over the overwhelmed Horns. Alabama improved to 21-3 overall and 10-1 in the league, as well as 6-0 on the road in the SEC, while Texas fell to 15-10 and 4-8 in the SEC.
Alabama used the same starting lineup they have used for the past several games with Mark Sears, Chris Youngblood, Jarin Stevenson, Grant Nelson, and Clifford Omoruyi getting the nod. Stevenson scored right out of the gate, but after four possessions the Tide had three turnovers, a recurring problem for the team.
After falling behind 7-2, Stevenson hit a three, Youngblood made a hoop and Labaron Philon entered the game and hit a three for a 10-7 Tide lead with 15 minutes left in the half. When Aden Holloway hit a triple with 11:20 left in the half, Bama had a 16-13 lead and never trailed again the rest of the game. Philon, after struggling the last five or six games, partially from an ankle injury and partially hitting the freshman wall, seemed to have his burst back. Three pointers from Holloway, Nelson, and Philon over the last two minutes of the half staked the Tide to a 49-31 halftime lead.
At the break the Crimson Tide was shooting a blistering 17-26 for 65%, including 7-12 from deep for 58%. Bama also made 8-10 free throws, grabbed 24 rebounds, dished out eight assists, blocked three shots, and pilfered three steals. The only black mark was the nine turnovers, which meant turnovers on 26% of their possessions. Philon led the way with 10 points, Holloway added nine with four rebounds, Stevenson tallied nine in only seven minutes of play, and Sears and Nelson added seven each.
The Longhorns were held to 10-35 for 29% with 3-12 from three point range for 25%. The Horns made 8-12 at the charity stripe, had 15 rebounds, three assists, seven steals, zero blocks, and only five turnovers. Superstar freshman phenom Tre Johnson, a high school teammate of Philon’s, scored 14 points on 5-8 shooting in the half. Everyone else on the team was a combined 5-27 from the floor.
Coach Nate Oats sent out the same starting five for the second stanza. Sears notched four quick points on two free throws and a layup before Stevenson made another three for a 56-34 lead with 17:20 left in the game. From there, the Tide was on cruise control. Youngblood hit a three, Mo Dioubate made a rare deep shot, and Holloway crossed up his man and nailed a step back deep ball for a 67-48 lead with 12:30 remaining.
Philon, Sears, and Stevenson kept the torrid long range shooting going for the team. Dioubate hit another three for a 85-63 margin. Stevenson made his fourth from behind the arc in five tries, and Dioubate made another for a 3-3 night from deep. When Dioubate made two free throws with a minute left Bama was over the 100 point mark for the seventh time this season and fifth in the SEC. Aiden Sherrell scored the last points for the Tide with a nice back down of his man and kiss off the glass to complete the 103-80 dismantling of the Longhorns.
In the second half, Bama shot 17-29 for 59%, 10-17 from three for 59% and 10-10 at the free throw line. Overall, the Tide shot an incredible 34-55 for 62%, and made a season high 17 three pointers out of 29 tires for 59% and a sizzling 18-20 at the free throw line. Alabama grabbed 41 rebounds, 11 off the offensive glass, had 17 assists, four blocks, six steals, and with several late game mishaps, had 17 turnovers. Stevenson had a career high 22 points on 7-8 shooting with 4-5 from three. The sophomore added four rebounds and a block and was named player of the game. Next up was the lightning bug, Holloway, with 18 points with six rebounds and four assists. Sears had 18 points of his own with two boards, three assists, a steal, and only three turnovers after 19 in his last three games. Philon came back to life with 15 points, six rebounds, and four assists. Dioubate was a perfect 4-4, with 3-3 from deep, from the floor and 2-2 at the line for 13 points and added two assists and a steal. Nelson had a quiet seven point and six rebound game. Omouryi only scored two, but led the team with eight rebounds and three blocked shots. Nelson earned the hard hat award for the game.
Texas shot much better in the second half with 19-34 for 56% and 5-10 from three point range. The Horns made 6-7 free throws in the period. Overall, the Longhorns were 29-69 for 42%, 8-22 for 36% from three, and 14-19 for 74% from the free throw line. The team had 24 rebounds, 14 were offensive, dished out 12 assists, blocked one shot, garnered 11 steals, and turned the ball over only nine times. Johnson shot 9-17 for 24 points and was backed up by Jayson Kent with 19 points after a hot second half. Julian Larry was also in double digits with 10 points.
After the game Oats said “other than the turnovers, the offense really clicked and were as good as we have been all year.” Oats went on to say that “we did a better job closing this one out than we did at Arkansas.” The coach was still not sold on the defense for 40 minutes but said “a 23 point road win over a good team, I guess I can’t complain much.” When asked about Saturday’s big matchup with 2nd/1st Auburn, the 6th year coach said “right now Auburn is the best team in the country, on Saturday I guess we will find out who the best team in the country is.”
The Tide has now scored 85 points or more in eight straight road games and has tallied 100 or more seven times this season. In SEC play, Alabama has five games at or over the century mark. If this team could ever clean up the turnovers, there is no telling how many points a game they would average. Stevenson had by far his best game of the year and looked like the player that was so good in the Final Four a year ago. Philon bouncing back after several subpar games is a great sign. Holloway is a walking bucket – when he lets it fly you always expect it to go in. Stevenson, Dioubate, and Philon are not who you expect to lead the team from three point range, yet the trio hit a combined 13-16 from deep while Sears, Holloway, and Youngblood- the teams best long range snipers- combined to make 6-14 from behind the arc.
The Barn will come into Tuscaloosa after a big road win over Vanderbilt for the 3 p.m. CT tipoff. ESPN College Game Day will be here for the biggest game in college basketball this season, and ever in the state of Alabama. The game will be shown on ESPN. Buckle up folks, T-Town is going to be on fire Saturday.
Roll Tide
