TUSCALOOSA, Ala. – It was a positive result for No. 20 Alabama on Monday night, defeating the Longwood University Lancers 75-54 to open its season in the win column, but there were remnants of 2021-22 in the game — the turnovers. 

The Crimson Tide averaged 14.6 turnovers per game a season ago, bad enough for 318th in the country. It was more of the same during Monday night’s win, as Alabama (1-0) racked up 19 more giveaways. 

“Some of them are just careless, dumb,” head coach Nate Oats said. “I don’t even have an answer for them, to be honest. I thought maybe we could have done a little bit better job getting [the players] ready to play against their pick-and-roll coverage. They guard pick-and-roll a lot different than we guard it.” 

Guard Nimari Burnett, who is playing his first minutes for the Crimson Tide after transferring from Texas Tech University in April 2021, had five by himself in 15 minutes. Lead guard Mark Sears, another transfer from Ohio, added five as well. Ten players touched the floor for significant time for Alabama on Monday night — nine of them recorded at least one turnover. 

“Things can change,” guard Brandon Miller said. “That’s why we have practice every day. I think we’re going to get better and change stuff in practice.” 

The Lancers (0-1) struggled to score the ball, thanks to great defense from the Crimson Tide. Longwood shot just 27% from the field. But the Lancers scored 11 points by way of Alabama turnovers. 

If the Crimson Tide wants to have similar success to its 2020-2021 SEC Championship and Sweet 16 team, it will need to learn to play with pace while also playing smart. Longwood may not have been able to take advantage of Alabama’s mistakes, but there are plenty of teams in the country that will. 

“We’re going to go through [the turnovers] all as a staff tomorrow,” Oats said. “We’ll get back with the players on Wednesday and go through them with them. Some guys just need to calm down.” 

Maybe it can be attributed to first game jitters or head coach Nate Oats’ up-tempo pace of play, but it needs to be fixed before it’s too late. There’s a difference between playing fast and playing out of control. 

“We like to play fast, but we don’t want guys to rush to where they’re turning the ball over just because they’re in a hurry for no reason,” Oats said. “We’re going to play fast, sprint the floor [and] play in transition a lot, but we’ve got to be able to take care of the ball while doing that. 19 turnovers is way too many.” 

The Crimson Tide will be in action next on Friday, Nov. 11, against the Liberty University Flames. Tipoff from Coleman Coliseum is set for 7 p.m. CT on SEC Network+. 

Questions or comments? Email Austin Hannon (Sports Editor) at [email protected]