Three Takeaways From Alabama Basketball's Blowout Win Over Georgia

The No. 4 Crimson Tide dominated the Bulldogs 90-69 at home in a game that featured superior performances from Alabama on both sides of the floor.

Alabama forward Grant Nelson (4) in action against Georgia at Coleman Coliseum in Tuscaloosa, AL on Saturday, Feb 1, 2025. / Photo by Crimson Tide Photos / UA Athletics

TUSCALOOSA, Ala.— No. 4 Alabama men's basketball obliterated Georgia 90-69 at home on Saturday.

For one of the first times this season, the Crimson Tide displayed dominance and superiority on both sides of the floor from practically start to finish.

There's so much to dissect from this matchup at Coleman Coliseum. Here are three takeaways:

Two Members of the Alabama Frontcourt Lead the Way

Alabama forward Grant Nelson had himself quite the game as he scored 16 points on 5-for-9 shooting, along with 10 rebounds and five blocks in 26 minutes of action. He is the only player in the SEC this season with 16 points, 10 rebounds and five blocks in under 30 minutes.

"I try to win the Hard Hat every night, but it's tough with Mo D out there doing whatever he does, somehow getting 20 [blue-collar points] every night," Nelson said while smiling during the postgame press conference. Despite the stellar stats, Nelson's nonstop hustle was just half of a blue-collar point shy of Mouhamed Dioubate for the team lead.

“Outside of the first four minutes of the second half, I thought Grant’s effort was outstanding," Alabama head coach Nate Oats said. "To have five blocks, our team had nine blocks. They just kind of force-feed it inside, and I think he kind of stood his ground, made some blocks in there on some of that stuff...Pretty good night for him.”

Alabama freshman forward Aiden Sherrell doesn’t get on the floor enough to have opportunities for three-point shots, as before Saturday, he was 4-for-24 from beyond the arc in 150 minutes of action. Sherrell scored eight points with 12 minutes remaining in the first half against Georgia––his most points in a game this season. He finished the game with 12 points, seven rebounds and a block, skyrocketing his chances of seeing more time on the floor this season.

“He’s about a 40 percent shooter from three-point range and we encourage him to keep shooting as long as his feet are set and he’s stepping into a good shot,” Oats said. “I was really happy to see that first one go down. He has struggled at the free-throw line this season but he was four for four tonight...I can’t say enough about Aiden tonight.

“We have this poll where the guys grade the team in five categories and vote for an MVP in practice, he had the most votes out of anybody in the last practice. He deserved to play some minutes. We knew they played two bigs the entire game and he would have an opportunity to play some minutes and he took advantage of it.”

Turnovers are Officially Alabama's Top Weakness

"There's got to be some in-the-moment consequence for dumb turnovers, which we just don't tolerate. "When we do have a longer time to practice because we didn't practice the day before...[maybe we have to] mix a little bit more of that stuff in."

Oats said the quote above before the LSU game and turnovers are still very much a problem for his team.

Alabama may now be 19-3 (8-1 SEC), but the Crimson Tide is yet to come close to a perfect game on both sides of the ball. Three-point shooting woes, offensive rebounding struggles and poor numbers from the charity stripe have each been factors in losses, close games and even blowouts like Saturday. But turning the ball over has been the common negative theme of the season.

Alabama has been known for its extremely fast-paced offense all season. But sometimes going too quickly results in making mistakes, even for the No. 4 team in the country. The Crimson Tide's 13.23 turnovers per game this season is the third-most in the SEC and Alabama's -2.78 turnover margin is the worst in the conference. These numbers were applied after the Georgia game.

There was no shortage of Tide giveaways on Saturday as Alabama committed three turnovers in the first four minutes of the game. Oats' team closed the first half with 12 and finished the game with 20 turnovers on the box score.

"We’re going to spend a lot of time on Monday and Tuesday figuring out how to not turn the ball over because we’ve had this issue way too many times," Oats said. "It’s gonna come back to bite us if we don’t get it fixed. Particularly on the road, teams that can take advantage of it a little bit more out in open court after turnovers, we've got to get it fixed.

"I hope we’re mature enough that we understand [the turnover issue], and I think we will. 12 of the 20 turnovers came from three of our fifth-year seniors. I hope those guys are mature enough to understand you can learn just as much from a win as you can with a loss.”

A Stellar Defensive Performance

While 20 turnovers is typically a losing recipe, that couldn't be said for Alabama on Saturday as it won by roughly the same margin as its giveaway total. Alabama allowed just nine points off turnovers, much thanks to its quick transition defense.

Nelson and Sherrell were a big part of this, as was Preseason All-American guard Mark Sears, who had the defensive performance and "enormous jump that [Oats and company] been looking for." But the aforementioned frontcourt duo had a big task in shutting down Georgia freshman Asa Newell.

Newell is tied with Alabama guard Labaron Philon for the conference lead in SEC Freshman of the Week awards with three. He also came into Saturday leading the Bulldogs in points per game with 15.2 on nearly 56 percent from the field and rebounds per game with seven, including 3.6 on the offensive glass.

"[Newell] was capable of shooting when we recruited him, I saw that he can shoot and I like his shot," Oats said during Friday's press conference. But he does most of his damage in the paint...you've got to prepare to stop other teams' primary scoring option and he's definitely their primary scoring option. They're kind of force-feeding it to him in the post and he's produced as their leading scorer so we have to guard him."

Newell finished with 16 points on 6-for-15 from the field and four made free throws. 10 of these points came in the second half when Alabama took its foot just slightly off the pedal. Newell was 1-for-8 in the first half.

“I wouldn’t say I was gearing up [to face Newell] because every game I’m prepared to guard the big guys or whoever is down there in the post,” Sherrell said during the postgame press conference. “We just had a game plan for him and we went out there and executed.”

Alabama came into this game allowing the 30th-most points in the country with 78.8. Saturday's 69 points allowed were the fifth fewest of the season, as Georgia went just 36 percent from the field and 17 percent from downtown. Oats was thrilled with the Crimson Tide's performance on the defensive side of the ball.

“Defensively, we held them to 0.88 [points per possession], which is really hard to do particularly when you turn it over 20 times," Oats said. "They got plenty of opportunities to score off our turnovers and we still sprinted back and made big stops. So if we can take that mentality, that effort on the defensive end and clean up the offense, we’ve got something headed in the right direction here going into the second half of conference play."

Read More: BamaCentral Courtside: No. 4 Alabama Basketball 90, Georgia 69