Alabama basketball, locks in defensively on an off-night shooting, and wins in dominating fashion in a noon matinee game inside Coleman Coliseum.
Despite a below-average offensive performance, Alabama basketball puts on a defensive clinic in an 81-54 win over Kent State before getting a week off between games for Christmas. Mark Sears finished with 16 points on the game to lead the team in a game where the Tide led the whole way through.
Clifford Omoruyi won the hard hat in this game.
“Much better defensive effort, so it will be a lot better Christmas for us,” said head coach Nate Oats.
Takeaway #1: Best defensive performance of the season
Alabama went back to the drawing board and worked on the basics of defense in practice after the game Wednesday, and it showed in the Tide’s best outing. The Tide held Kent State to a 0.71 points per possession, which was its best performance since opening night versus UNC-Asheville. As a team, its interior play stepped up big with eight blocks, with Mouhamed Dioubate and Grant Nelson both with two blocks a piece. The backcourt’s hands were active all game in the passing lanes with seven steals, with Aden Holloway with three steals and Sears with two.
Takeaway #2: Turnovers continue to be a problem
Alabama could not get things going early in the game due to the 13 turnovers in the first half. Whether that was missing free throws, trying to split double teams, or being too unselfish with bad passes, the Tide continued to struggle to put together its most efficient outing on the offensive end. The turnovers have been a major issue throughout the first 12 nonconference games thus far, and with the SEC being so deep, Bama will have to value the basketball in every possession. Sears and Nelson combined for nine turnovers between the two, and as veterans and leaders of this team will have to take care of the ball.
“We’ve gotta do a better job of the turnovers, and I don’t have an answer for the free throw problems,” said Oats
Takeaway #3: Alabama bigs dominate
Even though both big men for the Tide did not dominate in the points category, it took over in the paint on the glass. Both Omoruyi and Nelson combined for 26 rebounds between the two, with Omoruyi finishing with 12, which is the most rebounds he has had in the whole season thus far in one game. Nelson continues to anchor the team in the rebounding category with 14 now recording double-digit rebounding in three straight and in five out of the 12 games so far this season. Nelson finished the game with nine points, while Omoruyi had seven.
Next up for Alabama (10-2): vs. South Dakota State (9-5) – Dec. 29 at 3 p.m. EST
Next up for Kent State (8-3): vs. Heidelberg ( 6-4- Dec. 29 at 3:30 p.m. EST