The 12th ranked Alabama Crimson Tide took down the Texas San Antonio University Roadrunners 97-55 on Sunday afternoon in Coleman Coliseum. The short handed Tide, playing with out Aden Holloway, Taylor Bol Bowen, Keitenn Bristow, and Collins Onyejiaka had little trouble in disposing of the visitors. Coach Nate Oats called on a starting five of Labaron Philon, Latrell Wrightsell, Houston Mallette, Amari Allen, and Aiden Sherrell. Alabama improved to 7-2 while UTSA fell to 4-5. San Antonio is coached by former Oats assistant Austin Claunch.
Bama came out firing, actually more misfiring, but still were never threatened in the game. Philon hit his, and the team’s, first three pointer at the 18:44 mark and the Tide lead 5-0. The next eight tries from behind the arc were wayward before Jalil Bethea entered the action for just the second time this season. Bethea, coming back from a season long injury, got his feet wet on Wednesday by playing six minutes vs Clemson. The Miami transfer quickly hit a pair of three pointers, and Wrightsell got one to go down and Bama lead 18-4 with 11:23 left in the half. Philon hit again from deep, Bethea stuck pay dirt from long range a couple more times, Wrightsell had a pair, Sherrell got one to go down from the top of the key, and Davion Hannah ended the half with a three of his own to stake the Tide to a 56-17 lead at the intermission.
In the first half Alabama shot 18-43 for 42% including 11-31 for 35% from three point range, the Tide also made 9-9 at the free throw line. Bama had 29 total rebounds, 11 offensive boards, 11 assists, two blocks, eight steals, and did not commit a turnover. Bethea led the way with 16 points on 4-7 shooting from behind the arc and grabbed three rebounds, all in only nine minutes of action. Philon scored 10 points with 5 rebounds, two assists, and two steals. Wrightsell scored 10 points by volume shooting, 4-11 overall and 2-8 from three, and added three assists, and one steal. Allen scored seven, rebounded five, assisted on one, and blocked a shot.
UTSA shot a frigid 6-26 for 23%, 2-14 from three for 14%, and 3-6 from the charity stripe. The Roadrunners totaled 18 rebounds, had one block, zero steals, and committed 11 turnovers. Jamir Simpson, UTSA’s leading scorer on the season, scored seven points.The Tide used the same starting five for the second half. Bama’s scoring pace slowed down a bit, and the Roadrunners were shooting a little better to begin the half. However Philon hit a long range jumper to push the lead to 73-35 lead with 11:45 left in the game. Bethea drained another triple, London Jemison joined in with a couple of his own, as the Tide coasted home. Walk-on Jacob Martin brought his teammates to their feet with a rousing dunk off a pass from Jemison, and Hannah finalized the day with a three pointer from the corner to finish off the scoring with Bama falling just short of the century mark with the 97-56 victory.
Alabama shot 14-39 for 36% in the 2nd half, 5-26 from deep for 19% and made 8-11 free throws. Overall the Tide made 32-82 for 39% and heaved up an unreal 57 shots from behind the arc, connecting on 16 for 28%. On a good note the team made 17-20 freebies for 85%. Bama had 57 total rebounds, with 19 on the offensive end, passed for 22 assists, blocked six shots, had 15 steals, and committed only five turnovers. Bethea led the scoring with 21 points on 6-12 shooting with 5-10 from three point range, and added six rebounds, two assists, and two steals in 26 minutes of play. Philon almost looked as if he was toying with UTSA, and scored 20 points, had seven rebounds, six assists, four steals, and did not commit a turnover, all in 22 minutes. Jemison had 20 points of his own and contributed three rebounds and two steals. Allen had a double-double with 11 points and 10 rebounds, and tossed in four assists, two steals, and a blocked shot. Hannah was close to a double-double of his own with nine points and eight rebounds, and dished out two assists and added a steal. Wrightsell scored 10 while suffering through a 4-18 shooting day which include 2-14 from three. Sherrell only score three points, but grabbed 11 rebounds and blocked three shots, as he is starting to become a force down low on the defensive end.
UTSA improved to 14-35 for 40% in the second half, 6-19 for 32% from three, but only 4-10 on free throws. Overall the Roadrunners finished 20-61 for 33%, 8-33 for 24% from three, and 7-16 for 43% at the free line. The Runners finished with 41 rebounds, eight assists, three blocks, four steals, and 18 turnovers. Simpson finished with 20 points to lead the team and was joined in double digits by Dorian Hayes with 12.
A nice, easy win for the Tide against a clearly over matched team. Despite missing four scholarship players Oats was able to spread minutes around and Allen played the most with 33 minutes. Bama wasn’t shy about jacking up three point attempts, and big majority of them were uncontested, so the low percentage is a little alarming. This Tide team has eight to 10 players with average to above average potential from three point range so don’t expect them to ever pass up a clean shot. It was great to see the team take care of the ball, even if it was versus a lesser opponent. The defense was swarming and hands were active, leading to the season high in steals with 15. Next up is a big showdown with soon to be number one Arizona, which unfortunately will be played in Birmingham. The game is at 8:30 p.m. in Legacy Arena, and will be shown on ESPN. Arizona is coming off a 30 point victory over 20th ranked Auburn.
