Alabama basketball moves to 1-0 with win over Morehead State
The Alabama men’s basketball team got off to a hot start on Monday night, as it beat Morehead State 105-73 while seeing four different players score in the double digits. Despite significant roster turnover in the offseason, Nate Oats seems to have put together another talented team in Tuscaloosa.
North Dakota State transfer Grant Nelson was the star of the show. The 6-foot-11, 230-pound forward put up game-highs in points (24), rebounds (7) and blocks (2). He also shot 7-of-12 from the field, 2-of-4 from three-point range and hit all eight of his free throw attempts. His top play of the evening came on this poster dunk in the second half:
GRANT NELSON WITH THE POSTER‼️#RollTide | #BlueCollarBasketball
— Alabama Men’s Basketball (@AlabamaMBB) November 7, 2023
📺: https://t.co/rCMIgHBBFX pic.twitter.com/YScJiNCCmh
I mean, this team lost four of its top five scorers from a season ago, including Brandon Miller, Noah Clowney, Jahvon Quinerly and Charles Bediako. Plus, the Crimson Tide also lost three assistant coaches this offseason. And while Morehead State isn’t nationally recognized as a college basketball powerhouse, it is projected to win the Ohio Valley Conference.
Alabama, as a team, shot 43.5% from beyond the arc, which included Hofstra transfer guard Aaron Estrada hitting two of his three attempts from downtown. He was the Crimson Tide’s second-highest scorer, finishing with 16 points to go with three assists, three rebounds and two steals. Mark Sears and freshman Jarin Stevenson were the other two players to score in the double digits, putting up 13 and 12 respectively.
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Stevenson had a particularly impressive college debut, as he added five rebounds to his stat line while hitting back-to-back threes to start the second half. He finished shooting 40% (2-of-5) from three-point land and hit both of his free throw attempts. Obviously, he’s young after reclassifying, but there’s a reason this guy was a top-25 player nationally.
The starting five for UA was as follows:
- Mark Sears
- Aaron Estrada
- Rylan Griffen
- Grant Nelson
- Nick Pringle
Griffen came close to being Alabama’s fifth player to score 10 or more points. He contributed nine to go with four rebounds, three assists and one steal. Pringle is going to be a dominant scorer, but he chipped in five points to go with four rebounds.
By game’s end, you even had the Crimson Tide student section chanting “We want walk-ons” as UA took a commanding 99-69 lead. Next up, Alabama has Indiana State (1-0) coming to Tuscaloosa on Friday night with tipoff once again set for 7 p.m. CT. And like Monday’s game, it will air on ESPN+ and the SEC Network+. Stay tuned for more updates.
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