The Nate Oats era might not have officially started today, as it was only an exhibition game that won’t count toward Alabama’s record, but the Crimson Tide looked impressive in a dominant 93-65 win over Georgia Tech.

In his first collegiate game, freshman guard Jaden Shackelford did not need any time to adjust to the college atmosphere as he led the game with 21 points by shooting 6-for-10 from beyond the arc. Sophomore Kira Lewis Jr. was Alabama’s other 20-point scorer, also finishing with eight assists and seven rebounds.

“My teammates made me feel comfortable with it being my first year,” Shackelford said. “I have a lot of guys that let me know how it is playing in the first game. With Kira making great passes and me getting in the right spot, it just helped our team get better.”

With the season-ending injuries to forwards Juwan Gary and James Rojas during the preparation for this upcoming season, depth in the post is an issue that could hurt the Crimson Tide later in the season. But today, Alabama made its presence known on the glass by out-rebounding the Yellow Jackets 44-32, including 12 offensive rebounds.

It was not only the forwards that helped on the glass, as Lewis had seven rebounds and junior guard John Petty Jr. had five.

“One of my goals this year is to get more rebounds,” Lewis said. “When a guard gets more rebounds, the offense flows better into pushing the ball.”

The offense did indeed flow better when the guards grabbed a rebound, as the Crimson Tide finished with 21 assists and 14 fast break points. Overall, Alabama shot 17 of 37 (45.9%) from three and 32 of 77 (41.6%) from the field.

It was not always pretty for the Crimson Tide, as it started the game with three turnovers in their first four possessions and finished with 17 turnovers overall.

“I thought our effort was great,” Oats said. “We played hard, which is what we are looking for. The pace was a little more like we want, and it will get better. A lot of sloppiness, especially early, and we struggled against the zone, but eventually we broke them.”

Alabama will play its first regular season game against Penn on Nov. 5 at 7 p.m. in Coleman Coliseum.