TUSCALOOSA, Ala.— Alabama basketball made sure fans went home happy for the holidays. In the final game before Christmas, the No. 6 Crimson Tide rolled over Kent State 81-54 on Sunday afternoon inside Coleman Coliseum.
Nate Oats had been preaching defense all week after the Crimson Tide’s “debacle” against North Dakota, and he was pleased with the result against the Golden Flashes.
“We got a much better defensive effort, so it will be a much better Christmas break for us,” Oats said after the game.
The Crimson Tide dominated on the boards with a season-high 60 rebounds. Grant Nelson had double-digit rebounds for the third game in a row and fifth time this season, finishing with a season-high 14 rebounds. Clifford Omoruyi had 12 rebounds while Mouhamed Dioubate added eight boards in just 15 minutes of action.
Overall, it was one of the Tide’s best defensive performances of the season, holding the Golden Flashes to 54 points and 28 percent shooting. Kent State only had six points after the first three media timeouts in the first half. The 54 points tied the lowest total Alabama has allowed this season (UNC Asheville on Nov. 4.)
It wasn’t a pretty shooting day for either team, but Alabama got enough shots to fall and was strong on the defensive end to pull away for the blowout victory. However, it was a pretty sloppy game for the Crimson Tide with 19 turnovers.
“We struggled offensively,” Oats said. “We’re going to have to figure some stuff out here before SEC play. The turnovers have been really, really just way too many… We’ve got to do a better job with the turnovers.”
Mark Sears led Alabama in scoring with 16 points. Sears, Labaron Philon and Aden Holloway started to sink some 3-pointers in the final few minutes to make the 3-point shooting percentage a little more presentable at 25.7 percent. The team started 3-of-26 from beyond the arc before making six of its last nine 3-point shots. Sears and Holloway were the only Alabama players in double figures.
“With the 3s, we’ve just got to keep shooting good 3s and get the right guys taking them,” Oats said. “We’re never going to pass down an open look from 3. I thought Holloway did a really good job there in the second half kind of getting us going in a little bit.”
The first field goal of the game didn’t happen until almost four minutes in, but Alabama got going shortly after with an offensive run sparked by Derrion Reid. The Crimson Tide led by as much as 18 in the first half after going on a 16-0 run, and entered halftime with a 39-24 lead.
Oats still played all 11 available scholarship players on Sunday, but Houston Mallette and Aiden Sherrell saw the least amount of minutes. He wants to trim the rotation down to nine or 10 by SEC play. Alabama improves to 10-2 on the season and will have one final non-conference game on Dec. 29 at 2 p.m. against South Dakota State.
