Alabama basketball defeated Houston in an absolute physical war on the court to win the first game of the Players Era Thanksgiving Festival.
Alabama gets a big time resume win and forces overtime with Latrell Wrightsell converting two free throws at the line, then proceeds to outscore the Cougars 7-2 in overtime to get the gritty win in Las Vegas. Nate Oats moves to 3-0 against Kelvin Sampson while at Alabama.
Mo Dioubate won the hard hat tonight with 40 hard hat points.
“That was a cage match and that is the toughest team in America,” said Oats on Houston.
Takeaway #1: The Mark and Mo show
Mark Sears coming off putting up a donut in the last time out and Dioubate playing only three minutes. Sears did not see the first couple shots go thru, but once the first three dropped he had arrived and had the best game of the season so far with drawing tons of fouls with 24 points with 12 of those from the charity stripe. Dioubate was the energy guy off the bench when the Tide needed physicality and defense with three big time blocks at the rim, which led to transition buckets. Dioubate had his first career double-double in the Crimson Tide uniform with 10 points 16 rebounds.
“Coach told me before the game this is a Mo Dioubate game,” said Dioubate.
Takeaway #2: Domination on the glass
Alabama was down in the half, but it did not seem like it with a 25-18 advantage early and that carried into the finish line out rebounding Houston 48-39. The Cougars are always one of the top rebounding teams in the country, and Alabama has struggled to rebound the ball. Guys like Grant Nelson, Dioubate stepped up in a big way combining for 26 of the 48 rebounds. Alabama’s guards stepped up in a big way with 10 boards. The Tide had 20 offensive rebounds and was able to get 15 second chance points.
Takeaway #3: Game of runs
Both teams had multiple scoring runs with the largest lead for Alabama being eight points and Houston’s largest lead being six. Both teams had multiple scoring runs in the second half with LJ Cryer leading Houston late in the game single handedly with a 13-0 run after Alabama went on a five plus minute scoring drought towards the end of the game, but was able to withstand it to force overtime. Cryer finished with a game high 30 points. Free throws were able to extend runs or extinguish them with Alabama shooting 30-41 as a team at the line and Houston shooting 26-33 from the line.
Next up for Alabama (5-1): vs. Rutgers (5-1) -Nov. 27 at 10 p.m. EST
Next up for Houston (3-2): vs. Notre Dame (4-2) -Nov. 23 at 12:30 a.m. EST