When the season started co-captain Jimmie Taylor was supposed to be a focal point of Alabama’s offense, but up to this point Taylor has struggled to have the type of impact coach Avery Johnson envisioned back in October.

On Saturday, Taylor scored 11 points, grabbed 5 rebounds and blocked four shots in Alabama’s 80-71 win over the Missouri Tigers. That was his first game with double digit points since Dec. 29 when Alabama hosted Jacksonville State.

Retin Obasohan said the team has been working on getting him the ball more lately, and that Taylor just needs to play with confidence.

“I’m seeing Jimmie come into his own,” Obasohan said. “He puts in the work day in and day out. He’s always in there working on his left hand jump hook and his right hand jump hook so we want to put him in a situation where he can be successful.”

Earlier in the week Taylor scored eight points and grabbed six rebounds in the Crimson Tide’s win over Mississippi State. Riley Norris said when Taylor is playing at a high level the team is able to feed off his energy and play at a higher level.

Prior to the Missouri game, Johnson said he has started to see the type of play her wants from his co-captain. If Taylor is finally able to make an impact, then Alabama might be able to string together more wins than losses down the stretch.

“I like what I saw from him in that game [at Mississippi State], and if he can continue to duplicate that type of energy and enthusiasm and really play like a captain, it helps us in a lot of different ways,” Johnson said.