No. 5 Alabama basketball dominates No. 12 Oklahoma in SEC opener
TUSCALOOSA, Ala. — No. 5 Alabama played one of its best games of the year on Saturday night, dominating previously-undefeated No. 12 Oklahoma, 107-79. The win moves Alabama to 12-2 on the season, with a 1-0 record in SEC play.
Alabama went with the same starting five it’s gone with for a while now: Mark Sears, Labaron Philon, Jarin Stevenson, Grant Nelson and Cliff Omoruyi.
HOW IT HAPPENED
Alabama got a nice start from Stevenson, who has struggled to start the season despite remaining in the starting lineup consistently. He grabbed an offensive rebound and put it back up for a layup early, and blocked a shot in the opening minutes. Alabama held a slim 9-6 lead at the first media timeout.
As the first half went on, the Tide realized it had a size advantage at a lot of positions on the floor, and started using that to its advantage offensively. Alabama posted both guards and bigs a number of times, leading to some easy buckets inside.
Over the next four minutes Alabama continued to dominate the game inside. Cliff Omoruyi got involved, being used excellently as a cutter and a roller towards the rim. The Tide lead got extended to 11 after a big-time Nelson dunk that brought Coleman to its feet, and Oklahoma needed a timeout.
Alabama continued to push the lead as halftime drew near. Sound defense kept Oklahoma from being able to get hardly any quality looks off, while the Tide offense imposed its will scoring in the paint time and time again. A few 3-point shots fell, and before you know it, the lead was out to 19 points with time still on the clock in the first half.
By halftime, the Crimson Tide led 48-29 after one of the best and most well-rounded halves it played all year. It looked exactly how a top-5 team is supposed to look going into the break, needing to replicate it for the next 20 minutes.
Top 10
- 1Breaking
Sam Huard
Former 5-star QB Big Ten bound
- 2New
Cotton Bowl weather threat
Statement on pending snow
- 3
Paul Finebaum
In loss, Georgia became new Alabama
- 4
Texas AD blasts rumors
Sarkisian, NFL links draw response
- 5Hot
AP Poll
Hoops Top 25 shakeup
Get the On3 Top 10 to your inbox every morning
By clicking "Subscribe to Newsletter", I agree to On3's Privacy Notice, Terms, and use of my personal information described therein.
Alabama’s leading scorers at halftime were Philon with 10 and Omoruyi with eight, while Nelson and Sears had seven each.
Alabama opened the second half in a positive way, outscoring Oklahoma 13-9 over the first four minutes of the second half. Omoruyi continued to play very strong inside, putting together arguably his best game as a member of the Crimson Tide. Nelson also made his second three of the game in that 4-minute stretch, continuing his better shooting as of late.
The Tide kept pouring it on with a quick spurt out of the timeout. An Aden Holloway three got the crowd on its feet, then a steal from Sears and lob to Reid almost blew the roof off the building. The Alabama lead was up to 28, and it prompted yet another Oklahoma timeout. From there, it was essentially over.
Oklahoma answered out of the timeout with a small 6-0 run to cut into the lead, and was able to keep the lead in the low-20s for much of the late second half.
PLAYERS OF THE GAME
Mark Sears – 22 points, 10 assists, 4 rebounds
Grant Nelson – 12 points, 11 rebounds
Cliff Omoruyi – 10 points, 7 rebounds
WHAT’S NEXT
Alabama will continue conference play on Wednesday night, hitting the road to take on South Carolina. The game will tip at 6 p.m. CT on SEC Network.
