No. 5 Alabama men’s basketball welcomed No. 12 Oklahoma to the SEC by downing the Sooners 107-79 in the Crimson Tide’s first game of conference play on Saturday night.
Alabama put together one of its most complete halves of the season to start the game. It opened up a 19-point lead and held the Sooners to 35.3% shooting while also limiting its turnovers to just four.
“I thought the first 20 minutes was exactly what we needed to see out of these guys,” head coach Nate Oats said. “I thought we came out with the right mindset.”
The Crimson Tide kept its foot on the gas throughout the second half, outscoring the Sooners 59-50.
Across both halves, rebounds told the story of the game. Not only did Alabama dominate on the scoreboard, but it also excelled on the glass, outrebounding Oklahoma 51-26 and hauling in 22 offensive boards to the Sooners’ nine.
Alabama’s 28-point win over a top-15 SEC opponent, its fourth 100-point game of the season, should prove to be huge for its resume as the season continues.
Guard Mark Sears credited the difficult nonconference schedule in preparing the Crimson Tide for the challenge that the SEC presents. He said that nonconference play “really showed us our weakness.”
Sears was Alabama’s leading scorer with 22 points. He also dished out a career-high 10 assists and grabbed 4 rebounds.
“I wanted to do a great job of finding my teammates when they were open,” Sears said. “They did a great job of making the right plays.”
Freshman guard Labaron Philon put together a solid performance, scoring 16 points on 5/10 shooting with 4 rebounds and 5 assists.
“Each and every game, he gets better and better,” Sears said of Philon. “He definitely doesn’t play like a freshman. He plays like he has a lot of experience under his belt.”
The Crimson Tide also got key contributions from its feature big men. Center Clifford Omoruyi and forward Grant Nelson had 10 and 12 points, respectively. Omoruyi brought down 7 rebounds, while Nelson hauled in a team-high 11.
“He did a great job of finding the right spots in our offense and finishing,” Nelson said of Omoruyi.
Next up for the Crimson Tide is a road trip to Columbia, South Carolina, for a meeting with the South Carolina Gamecocks on Wednesday. Tipoff is set for 6 p.m. CT and can be streamed on SEC Network.
