No. 5 Alabama routs South Dakota State to close non-conference slate

TUSCALOOSA, Ala. — No. 5 Alabama capped off its non-conference schedule with a win on Sunday afternoon, blowout out South Dakota State 105-82. The win moved the Crimson Tide to 11-2 on the season, its best non-conference record in head coach Nate Oats‘ tenure.

Alabama was shorthanded in this one, with freshman forward Derrion Reid missing the game with an ankle injury that’s believed to be minor, and guard Houston Mallette being sick. The Crimson Tide went with the same starting lineup it’s had for the past few games, with Mark Sears, Labaron Philon, Jarin Stevenson, Grant Nelson and Cliff Omoruyi.

HOW IT HAPPENED

Alabama opened the game very strong, jumping out to a quick 10-2 lead at the first media timeout. Nelson hit two early threes and had eight points at that first break, and the defensive intensity was very strong early on, with SDSU’s only bucket coming on a mental lapse in transition.

The offensive pace of this game was lightning fast, with Alabama firing three after three and hitting at a much higher clip early than it had early throughout the season. Through the first 11 minutes of the first half Alabama made seven threes, three of them coming from Aden Holloway.

After South Dakota Stat cut the lead down to just four points, Alabama went on an extremely fast 15-3 run over two and a half minutes, ballooning the lead to 14 points with nine minutes to go in the half.

Mo Dioubate made his impact felt on the defensive end of the floor, picking up a few steals that led to points and grabbing some offensive rebounds to go with it.

Alabama’s guard trio of Sears, Philon and Holloway were excellent in the first half, all three scoring in double figures and doing it in different ways. They were the catalysts for the sharp ball movement all half, making sure it never stuck and the offense continued to flow.

The Crimson Tide entered halftime with a 57-33 lead, it’s best offensive half of the season, knocking down 12 made threes on 29 attempts.

South Dakota State opened the second half on a quick 7-0 run, before a pair of Sears free throws got the Crimson Tide on the board after halftime. The game continued at its fast offensive pace from both teams, and South Dakota State found much more offensive success by hitting threes at a high clip over the first few minutes.

The Jackrabbits outscored Alabama 19-12 to start the second half before the first media timeout, shooting 50 percent from three for the game through six minutes of the second half.

The Crimson Tide tightened back up defensively towards the middle of the second half, slowly but surely pushing its lead back out to 20 points while knocking down its fifteenth 3-pointer of the game in the process. Holloway was the first Alabama player to cross the 20-point threshold, doing so before the under-8 timeout.

By the end of the game Alabama had three players that scored at least 20 points, the team broke 100 points for the third time this season, and had single-digit turnovers.

PLAYERS OF THE GAME

Labaron Philon — 21 points, 5 rebounds, 6 assists

Mark Sears — 20 points, 5 assists

Aden Holloway — 26 points, 8 made 3-pointers

WHAT’S NEXT

Alabama has now completed its non-conference schedule for the season, moving into SEC play next. The Crimson Tide’s first league game will be against No. 12 Oklahoma on Jan. 4, with tipoff set for 5 p.m. CT in Coleman Coliseum. The game will air on SEC Network.

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