Full-Court Press: Takeaways from Alabama Basketball in First Round of NCAA Tournament

Blake Byler's thoughts and takeaways from Alabama's opening-round victory over Texas A&M-Corpus Christi.

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. — It wasn't a flawless game, specifically in the case of Brandon Miller, but No. 1 overall seed Alabama still took care of business to eliminate 16-seed Texas A&M-Corpus Christi in the first round of the NCAA Tournament on Thursday afternoon.

The Crimson Tide won by a final score of 96-75.

Here are some of my thoughts and takeaways from the game:

1. Alabama's bench can propel a deep run.

Brandon Miller scored zero points in today's game.

Yes, zero.

When arguably the best player in the nation goes scoreless for arguably the best team in the nation, usually that's a recipe for poor results. Miller scores nearly 20 points per game, and carried much the offensive load en route to an SEC Tournament championship in Nashville.

Today, 51 percent of Alabama's scoring came from the bench.

Firstly, Nick Pringle was excellent with a 19-point, 15-rebound double-double. Noah Clowney was astounding in the opening minutes of the game, but dealt with foul trouble that kept him on the bench. The same can be said for Charles Bediako.

This left Pringle to go to work against a Texas A&M-Corpus-Christi team that has an average height of 6-foot-3. Pringle did exaclt what he's good at: using his strength and athleticism to dunk, grab rebounds and score on putbacks. 

In addition to Pringle, Nimari Burnett scored 11 points on an efficient 3-for-6 shooting from downtown. Burnett did not play in the SEC Championship on Sunday, but that didn't affect his ability to be locked in and ready to go when his number was called.

Just like Gurley was ready to contribute when he was called on the SEC Tournament, Burnett did the same today. It speaks volumes about the team-first culture that Alabama has built, where no one complains about playing time and only cares about the team getting a win.

Speaking of Gurley, he continued his recent success as well, scoring eight points and making two threes. Alabama also got 3-point makes from Rylan Griffen and Dom Welch, playing their roles excellently. 

Alabama has one of, if not the deepest bench in not only college basketball, but in program history. It's one of the biggest reasons Alabama is such a threat to go to Houston for the Final Four.

Well, that and the fact that all the top seeds in the South Region keep losing.

2. Mark Sears found his shot again.

One of the stories of the SEC Tournament for Alabama was how poorly second-leading scorer Mark Sears played for the Crimson Tide.

Across the entirety of Alabama's three games in Nashville, Sears scored just 15 total points and shot an abysmal 3-for-23 from distance.

Looking to right that ship, Sears came out against TAMU-CC and hit his first three shots — all from beyond the arc.

The blazing efforts of Sears' shooting sent the heavily pro-Alabama crowd inside Legacy Arena into a frenzy. The Alabama faithful knew the struggles Sears has been dealing with, and they made sure he felt the weight of his strings of makes.

After the game, Sears was asked about his efforts in the gym following the weekend's struggles. He responded by saying he spent extra time in the gym, but after he finished his answer, his teammate Burnett chimed in.

"Mark stays in the gym. He lives in the gym," Burnett said.

That kind of effort to getting out of a slump and his ability to trust his work help make Sears the basketball player he is. 

The fact that Alabama was able to win the SEC Tournament despite Sears' struggles speaks to the depth of the team that I talked about earlier, but the fact of the matter is if Alabama wanted to go to the Final Four — or further — Sears would have to start scoring again.

Good news for the Crimson Tide — he looks to be on that path.

3. The offense played great, but the defense needed work.

Perhaps the biggest story from Alabama's SEC Tournament win last weekend was the defense, as the Crimson Tide didn't let any opponent break 70 across any of its three games. 

Today, the Islanders scored 75, while sporting an offensive efficiency ranking of 135th nationally per KenPom.

TAMU-CC shot 35 percent from beyond the arc and displayed the ability to make some tough shots, but overall Alabama did not show the same defensive intensity that it showed on its SEC Tournament run.

Oats was visibly upset with the effort numerous times, and could be seen in the huddles of timeouts making animated gestures and attempting to encourage more effort on the floor.

Alabama's offense was astounding today, so the defensive struggles didn't necessarily matter, but as the tournament continues the Crimson Tide will have to get back to guarding hard in order to keep advancing.

Oats knows this, too, and will certainly use practice tomorrow as an opportunity to re-engage his team on the defensive end. I personally expect a much higher level of defensive execution against Maryland on Saturday.

4. A few more things...

• March JQ kept doing March JQ things. Jahvon Quinerly scored 13 points on 4-of-8 shooting in his 18 minutes of action. 

• Before being left in with two fouls and picking up his third with 10 minutes still remaining in the first half, Clowney was having an exceptional game. He had 10 points on 3-of-4 shooting with two makes from 3-point range, continuing his good shooting from Nashville. 

• For the first time since 2019, Alabama basketball has won a game in Birmingham. 

See also:

No. 1 Alabama Handles Texas A&M-CC in NCAA Tournament First Round

Mark Sears is Returning to Form at the Perfect Time for No. 1 Alabama

BamaCentral Courtside: No. 1 Alabama 96, No. 16 Texas A&M - Corpus Christi 75