Three Takeaways From Alabama Basketball's Stomping Over Oklahoma

The No. 5 Crimson Tide dominated the No. 12 Sooners in the SEC opener.

Alabama Guard Chris Youngblood (8), Assistant Coach Preston Murphy and Head Coach Nate Oats vs. Oklahoma / Obtained from Alabama Basketball's X/Twitter

TUSCALOOSA, Ala.— No. 5 Alabama men's basketball dominated previously undefeated No. 12 Oklahoma 107-79 at home in the SEC opener on Saturday evening. This was the Sooners' first-ever SEC game as a member of the conference and the Crimson Tide handed them their first loss in more ways than one.

The Crimson Tide punished the Sooners immediately with its physicality and never looked back.

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

Sizing Up the Sooners

Through non-conference play, Oklahoma was led by three scorers who are all under 6-foot-7 but consistently draw fouls inside. Jeremiah Fears leads the team in points per game, but Jalon Moore and Duke Miles' ability to be efficient from downtown has been pivotal when spacing the floor through 13 games.

In other words, the Sooners play small-ball, meaning they have some weaknesses down low due to a lack of size. Alabama took advantage of this early on Saturday, whether it was contested or uncontested layups, emphatic dunks, swift floaters or the 10-4 offensive rebound edge that created 14 second-chance points, the Tide was all over Oklahoma down low as it tallied 24 points in the paint in the first half. Alabama went 13-of-25 from two-point range during the period with guard Labaron Philon leading the way with 10 total points followed by center Clifford Omoruyi with eight.

The Sooners ended up scoring a respectable 20 points in the paint in the first half, as they finished the opening period shooting 12-of-26 from two-point range. The Tide's pressure in part due to the height difference forced some bad shots from all over the floor, numerous turnovers and blocks, but there certainly were some open holes down low that the Sooners took notice of. That said, Alabama made sure to put a defensive emphasis on Fears both in the paint and up top in the first half as he scored just one point (free throw) missing all seven of his shot attempts.

Alabama finished the game with 22 offensive rebounds, seven more than the previous season-high that came in the Tide's last matchup against Kent State. This resulted in 25 second-chance points, which was about the same point differential on the final scoreboard. Guard Chris Youngblood led Alabama with four offensive rebounds and everyone who played except for Aden Holloway and three others who played less than five minutes had either two or three O-boards.

"Getting to the O-boards, getting 22 out of the 40 available rebounds on our offensive end is pretty solid," Alabama head coach Nate Oats said during the postgame press conference. "Our offensive rebounding rate was 55 percent tonight. So we’ve been stressing that. I thought we took advantage of some of their smaller guards on the offensive boards. Youngblood kind of a two to three, got four of them. Sears ended up with two. Labaron had two O-boards. So it wasn’t just our bigs getting in there. I thought our guards got in there and mixed it up pretty good. "

You Get a Bucket, You Get a Bucket, You Get a Bucket

Throughout the offseason and often during non-conference play Alabama basketball was and has been praised for its plethora of depth and scoring options from all over the floor and roster. Saturday evening was no different against the Sooners.

While the points in the paint ended up being relatively similar in the first half, the same couldn't be said for the makes behind the arc, as Alabama went 5-of-15 while the Sooners converted just 1-of-8. Philon hit two threes, and forward Grant Nelson and guards Mark Sears and Youngblood each put one through the net, helping create a difference-maker that became a 48-29 lead at halftime.

To keep the clock moving a bit in the second half, Alabama's offense often took its time to get a shot off. Nevertheless, those shots were falling, which completely prevented the Sooners from making a comeback.

Philon, and guards Mark Sears and Aden Holloway, forwards Grant Nelson and Derrion Reid and center Clifford Omoruyi each tallied double-figures, as the constant spreading of the ball forced Oklahoma to adjust on the fly, which added to the Sooners' troubles throughout the night. Sears and Philon combined for 38 points and 15 assists and Omoruyi and Nelson combined for 22 points and 18 rebounds. Sears and Nelson each recorded double-doubles.

Perhaps what's most impressive is Sears and Philon's 15 combined assists were also accompanied by zero turnovers––a stat category that Alabama has been on the wrong side of lately. Sears' 10 assists are a career-high.

"We’ve made a huge point emphasis on turnovers in practice," Oats said. "I think he’s wanting to get better, wanting to be coached, wants his team to be great. So 10 assists, zero turnovers, that’s how it’s supposed to look for a point guard. But even the best point guards don’t have those type of nights all that often. So this will definitely help his assist-to-turnover ratio out in the season. I thought he was making the right reads. When they collapsed, he’s spraying it and making early reads. So nobody’s gonna be 100 percent on the reads, but he was a lot closer to 100 today than he’s been some games earlier in the season.”

Every Alabama player except for Houston Mallette and Max Scharnowski, who each played for two minutes, scored at least four points. Every Crimson Tide player except for those two, plus forward Aiden Sherrell scored at least two points in the first half.

Defense On Display

The Sooners ended up scoring a respectable 20 points in the paint in the first half, as they finished the opening period shooting 12-of-26 from two-point range. The Tide's pressure forced some bad shots from all over the floor, numerous turnovers and blocks.

That said, Alabama made sure to put a defensive emphasis on Fears both in the paint and up top in the first half as he scored just one point (free throw) missing all seven of his shot attempts. As previously stated, the somewhat undersized Sooners struggled from downtown in the first half.

"I did think we forced them into some tough shots, maybe challenging threes with our length," Oats said. "But because they were a team that had been shooting 37 percent from three, and they only shot 26 tonight, maybe our length bothered him and from the 3-point line."

Nonetheless there certainly were some open holes down low that the Sooners took notice of. Oats said his team "gave up some just dumb wide-open layups," but credited multiple defenders, including Omoruyi's threatening presence down low.

“The first 20 minutes was as good as we’ve played. 0.76 [points per possession] against a team like Oklahoma, top-12 in the country. I think it showed what we’re capable of, but we’ve had this issue this year, and it’s a little bit of human nature, but we've got to fight it.

The second half wasn’t very good. We were 1.28 [points per possession] in the second half, so we ended up at a 1.03 in the game, which isn’t where we want to be. We need to be down in the low nines if we’re trying to have a dominant defense. So I thought it was great for 20 minutes, and not very good at all for the last 20.”

Alabama's defense took the foot off the pedal a little bit in the second half, hence Oats' dismay, but the production on both ends for the first 20 minutes was more than enough to prevent a massive comeback.

Alabama improves to 12-2 while the Sooners slide down to 13-1.

Read More: Alabama's SEC Opener Marked By Sears Double-Double

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