Alabama stayed undefeated in SEC play, defeating Texas A&M 94-88 in a top-10 matchup on Saturday. Here is the good, the bad and the ugly from the Crimson Tide’s win.
The good
Bench production. Alabama got some crucial production off the bench, as guards Aden Holloway, Chris Youngblood and Derrion Reid all had double-digit points.
Holloway continued his improved play late, scoring 15 points on 6-10 shooting, including going 3/6 on 3s. Youngblood broke out of the slump he has been in since returning from injury, scoring 14 points on 4/7 shooting and making three of his six shots from downtown.
“We knew what we were getting with him from South Florida,” head coach Nate Oats said of Youngblood. “He shoots it at a really high clip. He just had to get off that surgery and get himself back comfortable.”
Although forward Mouhamed Dioubate didn’t have any points off the bench in his 16 minutes, he still made an impact with a team-high two steals and three blocks, along with two offensive rebounds. Oats said that Dioubate is a guy to go to when the team lacks energy.
Mark Sears. After an out-of-character early-season slump for one of the leaders of the Crimson Tide, it appears Sears is hitting last year’s stride. He tied his season-high with 27 points, making seven of 18 shots from the field and going 4/10 from 3-point range. Sears’s ability to get to the stripe was also crucial, as he went 9/10 from the free throw line.
Sears helped Alabama secure the victory late, as 10 of his points came in the final five minutes of the game, including icing the game with four free throws in the final minute.
Effort from Clifford Omoruyi. It looked like the Crimson Tide was in deep trouble when Omorouyi rolled his ankle just 24 seconds into the second half and needed help getting off the court before going straight to the locker room.
But only four minutes later, Omoruyi was back in the game and helped Alabama out-rebound Texas A&M by eight. He had a team-high 10 rebounds to go along with 7 points and a block.
“A lot of guys would have just sat that one out after they rolled their ankle like he did,” Oats said. “He manned up, wanted to play, wanted to be there for his teammates.”
The bad
Mediocre free throw shooting. One thing the Crimson Tide needs to do better going forward is shoot more efficiently from the free throw line. The team got to the free-throw line 40 times but only made 27 shots for a 67.5% rate.
These problems have surfaced all season. Alabama’s season-long mark of 69.5% from the stripe ranks 250th in the country, and it needs to improve as the team advances into conference play.
Not finishing Texas A&M earlier. It looked like the Crimson Tide was in prime position to secure a more comfortable win, up by 15 with just 7:26 left in the game. But the Aggies fought back into the game and got the score as close as 83-80.
“You’re up 15. You can’t let that thing slip away like it was close to,” Oats said. “We had some dumb turnovers and gave up some offensive boards.”
The ugly
Fouls. There were a notably high 31 fouls on the Crimson Tide, meaning Texas A&M had 48 chances to convert from the free throw stripe. The result may have been different if the Aggies had shot better, as they made only 28 of the 48 attempts.
Alabama wasn’t the only team foul-happy in the matchup. Texas A&M committed 27 fouls, which Oats said made the game appear “frustrating” with constant interruptions due to foul calls.
“It wasn’t a real smooth game. It took about three hours,” Oats said. “People expect three hours on a football game, not a basketball game, but it is what it is. If you keep fouling, they’re gonna keep calling them.”
Alabama will return to Coleman Coliseum on Tuesday for another Top 25 matchup against No. 23 Ole Miss at 6 p.m. CT on ESPNU.
