No. 2 Alabama Basketball Dominates in Season Opener over UNC Asheville, 110-54

Seven different players finished in double figures as the Crimson Tide blew out the Bulldogs.

Clifford Omoruyi against UNC Asheville / Alabama Athletics

TUSCALOOSA, Ala.— The 2024 Alabama basketball season got off to a blazing start. The Crimson Tide jumped out to a nine-point lead in the opening minutes and never looked back on the way to a 110-54 blowout over UNC Asheville inside Coleman Coliseum on Monday night. 

Mark Sears led Alabama in scoring with 20 points in just 24 minutes of playing time. Crimson Tide head coach Nate Oats was able to display the depth of this team with all 10 available scholarship players already in the scoring column by halftime. Seven different players finished in double figures.

No. 2 Alabama (1-0) was able to live up to the preseason hype with a dominant performance from start to finish on Monday against the Bulldogs (0-1.)

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How it happened...

(latest updates at the top)

FINAL: Alabama 110, UNC Asheville 54

Final box score / Statbroadcast

Second Half

• Walk-on Max Scharnowski has gotten off the bench with Alabama leading 103-54.
• 3:55- Alabama 101, UNC Asheville 54
• 5:01- Alabama crosses the century mark on a 3-pointer from Wrightsell. Alabama leads 100-54
• Alabama is on a 16-3 run over the last 4:48.
• 8:29- A lob from Sears to Omoruyi forces Asheville to call a timeout with the Tide now leading 87-47. Omoruyi is now up to 16 points.
• 10:21- Alabama 81, UNC Asheville 47 at the under-12 media timeout. Alabama now has three players in double figures (Sears, Omoruyi and Holloway.)
• 11:03- Dioubate hits a smooth 3-pointer. It's something he worked on this offseason after being just 9 percent from beyond the arc last season.
• Alabama's depth allows some of the star players to get more rest, especially in games like this. Oats won't have to over-exert any players early on. For example, Sears has already spent over eight minutes on the bench with 12 minutes still to go in the game. He averaged 33.6 points per game last season.
• Holloway is fouled on a 3-point attempt and makes all three free throws to put the Tide up 74-44.
• 13:41- UNC Asheville coach Mike Morrell calls a timeout after Alabama goes on a 7-0 run to go up 71-42
• 15:37- Sears' third 3 of the game puts the Tide up 64-40
• 15:48- Alabama 61, UNC Asheville 40 at the under-16 media timeout
• 17:43- Omoruyi picks up his third foul. Alabama still has a big lead, 56-33
• 19:54- Sears scores on Alabama's first possession of the second half to go up, 52-29
• Grant Nelson starts over Jarin Stevenson to open the second half.

Halftime: Alabama 50, UNC Asheville 29

• Mark Sears, Alabama's leading scorer from a season ago, leads the Crimson Tide with 10 points.
• Clifford Omoruyi is the leading rebounder with six.
• Ten different Crimson Tide playes scored in the first half.
• Neither team shot well from the free throw line in the first half. UNC Asheville was 50 percent (6-12), and Alabama wasn't much better at 58 percent (11-19.)
• Nine of the Bulldogs' 29 points came off of Alabama's eight first-half turnovers.

Halftime stats / Statbroadcast

First Half

• HALFTIME: Alabama 50, UNC Asheville 29
• 3:09- Two free throws end Asheville's five-plus minute scoring drought and cut the Alabama lead to 46-22
• 3:44- Alabama 46, UNC Asheville 20
• Alabama is on a 13-0 run. Omoruyi already has 6 points and 6 rebounds for the Crimson Tide.
• Alley oop from Philon to Omoruyi gets the Coleman crowd on its feed as the Tide leads, 46-20
• 5:04- Bulldogs call a timeout with possession of the ball in the middle of a scramble. Alabama is on an 8-0 run and leads 41-20
• 6:09- Jordan Marsh picks up his third foul for the Bulldogs.
• Defense leads to offense. Sherrell gets teh steal on one end, and Wrightsell finishes on the other end to put Alabama up 38-20.
• 7;45- Alabama 33, UNC Asheville 20
• All 10 players that have seen the court for the Crimson Tide have scored at least one basket. Holloway leads Alabama with 8 points. Solomon leads all scorers with 9 points.
• 8:00- Alabama leads 33-20, but has some sloppy play the last few minutes with several turnovers.
• Alabama is playing very hard on defense early on, but anytime the defense gives up an offensive rebound, Oats loses his mind.
• 11:42- Alabama 26, UNC Asheville 13 at the second media timeout
• Holloway is running the point for Alabama with Sears taking a breather on the bench.
• 13:11- Aiden Sherrell checks in for the first time for Alabama. Tide leads 20-11
• 14:03- A 6-0 run puts Alabama up 18-7
• 15:42- Auburn transfer Aden Holloway makes his first field goal attempt, a 3-pointer to put Alabam aup 12-5
• 15:54- Alabama 9, UNC Asheville 5
• 16:02- Grant Nelson, Latrell Wrightsell Jr., Mo Dioubate and Aden Holloway check in at the first stoppage in play.
• 17:13- UNC Asheville finally gets on the board with a 3-pointer from Toyaz Solomon, 9-3.
• Mark Sears drains his first 3-point attempt of the season, and Alabama leads 9-0 with 17:47 to go in the first half.
• Derrion Reid scores his first college points in emphatic fashion with a one-handed slam to put Alabama up 6-0.
• Jarin Stevenson scores the first points of the year for the Crimson Tide to put Alabama up 2-0.
• Omoruyi makes his presence felt right away, getting a block on Alabama's opening defensive posses
• UNC Asheville wins the tips, and this game is underway.

Starting lineups:

UNC Asheville at Alabama starting lineups / Statbroadcast

• Alabama's starting lineup: Mark Sears, Labaron Philon, Jarin Stevenson, Derrion Reid and Clifford Omoruyi

• UNC Asheville starting lineup: Jordan Marsh, Aidan Rubio, Fletcher Abee, Toyaz Solomon, Greg Gantt Jr.

Pregame

• Sears gets a HUGE cheer pregame during the starting lineup introductions.
• Tonight's officials: Joe Lindsay, Bharat Ramnanan and Chuck McCoy.
• Mark Sears leads Alabama out of the tunnel onto the court for the final pregame warmups.
• Andy Hayes is presented his plaid blazer pregame as the new Crimson Chaos president.
• Nate Oats announces on the Crimson Tide Sports Network pregame show that Cunningham and Mallette will be redshirting this season.
• Alabama wide receiver Ryan Williams is here decked out in a hard hat.
• 30 minutes before tipoff, and Coleman Coliseum is not very well attended outside of the student section.
• Houston Mallette, Naas Cunningham and Chris Youngblood are all in street clothes for warmups. Youngblood, who will be out until at least December, is out of his boot.
• Grant Nelson, Aiden Sherrell and Latrell Wrightsell are all participating in warmups. (All three missed the Crimson Tide's exhibition games.
• Alabama women's basketball opened the Monday night doubleheader inside Coleman Coliseum with a 115-53 victory over New Orleans.

READ: Alabama Men's Basketball 2024-25 Season Preview

How to Watch: No. 2 Alabama vs. UNC Asheville

Who: Alabama (0-0, 0-0 SEC) vs. UNC Asheville (0-0, 0-0 Big South)

When: Monday, Nov. 4, 8 p.m. CT

Where: Coleman Coliseum, Tuscaloosa, Alabama

Radio: Crimson Tide Sports Network (Play-By-Play: Chris Stewart, Color: Bryan Passink). The pregame show will begin one hour prior to tipoff.

TV: ESPNU

Series: This will be the premier time that these programs will meet. That said, Alabama is 7-0 against current Big South teams, with three wins against Charleston Southern, two wins against Winthrop and one victory against USC Upstate and Longwood. UNC Asheville will be Alabama's fifth-ever opponent from this conference, as High Point, Radford, Gardner-Webb and Presbyterian still haven't faced the Crimson Tide.

Last meeting: Never.

Last time out, Alabama: Prior to the Crimson Tide's two scrimmage wins against Wake Forest (Oct. 18) and Memphis (Oct. 28), Alabama finished last season with an 86-72 loss to eventual national champion UConn in the Final Four. This was Alabama's first Final Four appearance in program history, as the banner was unveiled in the Coleman Coliseum rafters on Oct. 11.

Last time out, UNC Asheville: The Bulldogs haven't played any scrimmage games during the preseason. After tallying a respectable 20-11 record last regular season, UNC Asheville won its first two games of the Big South Tournament but fell to Longwood 85-59 in the Conference Championship, ending its hopes of making the NCAA Tournament.