Full-Court Press: Takeaways from Alabama Basketball at Mississippi State

Blake Byler's thoughts and takeaways from Alabama basketball's first win of SEC play.

STARKVILLE, Miss. — No. 8 Alabama opened SEC play on Wednesday night with a bang, going on the road to beat No. 21 Mississippi State by a final score of 78-67.

It was a hard-fought win that didn't come without adversity, but the Crimson Tide once again found a way to pull out the victory.

Here are a few of my takeaways from the big win:

1. Dom Welch is back, and looks good.

All offseason Alabama fans waited to see Dom Welch on the court.

Welch transferred in as a graduate student from St. Bonaventure after averaging over 12 points per game last season and is a career 38 percent shooter from deep. His addition bolstered the depth of the Crimson Tide backcourt, but he hadn't played a game until Mississippi State due to a calf strain.

Welch played on a minutes restriction, posting just nine minutes, but looked great in his limited action. 

His best trait was his perimeter defense, looking like a true veteran with his disciplined lateral movements and ability to keep his opponent in front of him without fouling. 

Welch is renowned as a shooter, and his shots will fall as he gets back into the flow of live play, but his defense Wednesday night showed a lot of what he can bring to the floor. With Nimari Burnett sidelined for a few more weeks after wrist surgery, Welch has the chance to slide in perfectly to fill his void.

2. Alabama has really impressive depth.

Brandon Miller had three first half fouls.

For most teams, losing their star player to foul trouble would spell disaster for the rest of the game, but Alabama wasn't effected.

Charles Bediako and Jahvon Quinerly were in foul trouble as well, but that just gave more players the opportunity to seize their own moments. 

Nick Pringle was excellent in relief of Bediako, scoring 10 points and throwing down dunk after dunk. With Miller out, Sears took over the scoring load and kept Alabama in front in the first half. Rylan Griffen played 15 first half minutes due to his effectiveness on the defensive end of the floor.

This Alabama team clicks as well as it does because everyone has a role and understands it. Miller and Sears take on the majority of the scoring. Clowney and Gurley do a great job of cleaning up the offensive glass. Bradley and Quinerly are excellent distributors. Everyone plays hard defense.

The team has bought into playing their roles well, and it shows every time Alabama gets to show off its depth.

With this many players that can contribute effectively, the Crimson Tide looks more and more like a team that can achieve major things this season.

3. Road wins are impressive.

It's hard to win on the road, and it's really hard to win on the road in the SEC.

That was apparent Wednesday night as league play opened, with Florida being unable to pull out a road win over Auburn and No. 9 Arkansas falling in Baton Rouge to LSU.

Mississippi State isn't an easy place to play, either, and Alabama was facing a sold-out crowd.

Despite that, Alabama pulled out a double-digit win over a top-25 team. That's yet another tough road win that Alabama can hang its hat on, and one that builds even more confidence for a young team whose next road trip is against a very, very tough team up in Fayetteville. 

4. Alabama once again showed resiliency.

We saw it in the four-overtime win over North Carolina.

We saw it in the 15-point comeback over Houston.

We saw it once again in Starkville in what started as an ugly game with tight officiating and frustrating offensive basketball.

This Alabama team refuses to quit, regardless of circumstances. They keep fighting when the chips are stacked against them, and when things shift in their favor, they put their foot on the gas even harder. 

Oats said Alabama had 14 more blue collar points than Mississippi State, and that's not by chance.

Every game Alabama continually shows that the players want it more than the players on the other side.

5. A few more things...

• Alabama's free throw shooting continues to improve. The Crimson Tide shot 14-for-18 on the game.  

• The turnovers still haven't improved. Alabama turned it over 19 times, but got the win despite those numbers.  

• Alabama defended very well on the interior, only surrendering 18 points in the paint for the whole game against a strong frontcourt featuring Tolu Smith. 

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