Alabama Looks to Tighten Up the Glass as Kennesaw State Brings Firepower to Huntsville
No. 16 Alabama has been lighting up scoreboards all season, but as they get set to face a high-octane Kennesaw State squad on Sunday in Huntsville, the Crimson Tide’s focus isn’t on their offense - it’s on the boards.
Alabama (8-3) enters the matchup averaging a blistering 94.1 points per game, good for seventh in the nation. Freshman guard Labaron Philon has been a revelation, pouring in 22.4 points per night and giving the Tide a dynamic scoring threat every time he steps on the floor. But while the buckets have been plentiful, the rebounding has been a sore spot - and head coach Nate Oats isn’t sugarcoating it.
After a 104-93 win over South Florida on Wednesday, Alabama walked away with the victory - but also with a glaring stat line: 25 offensive rebounds allowed. That’s the kind of number that can come back to bite you, especially with SEC play looming.
“We’ve been emphasizing the rebounding issues,” Oats said postgame. “They’re trying.
We’ve got to continue to work on it. We’ve got to continue to get better.”
Oats knows his team has the tools to clean up the glass more effectively - the challenge is turning effort into execution. And with the Tide finally getting healthier, there’s reason to believe improvement is coming.
Sophomore guard Aden Holloway, Alabama’s second-leading scorer at 16.6 points per game, returned from a five-game absence and didn’t miss a beat, dropping 24 points against USF. Latrell Wrightsell Jr., who’s averaging 11.5 points but has only played in six games this season, is also back in the rotation, giving Alabama more depth and versatility.
One player who’s been there from the jump is Houston Mallette. The fifth-year guard, who missed most of last season due to injury, has been a steady presence in an otherwise rotating lineup. He’s one of just five players to appear in every game this season and has earned Oats’ trust with his effort and coachability.
“(Houston) plays hard all the time,” Oats said. “He’s about the right stuff.
He’s super coachable. Anything we emphasize, he’s trying to do it at an elite level.
I love coaching Houston.”
Mallette isn’t perfect - Oats pointed out some defensive lapses - but he’s a glue guy, the kind of player every contender needs when the games start to matter more.
And Sunday’s matchup isn’t just another non-conference tune-up. Kennesaw State (8-3) comes in with the fifth-highest scoring average in the country at 94.5 points per game. That’s right - Alabama’s about to face a team that scores even more than they do.
Senior guard Simeon Cottle leads the Owls with 19.3 points per game, and they play with pace, confidence, and a chip on their shoulder - a reflection of their head coach, Antoine Pettway.
Pettway’s return to Alabama adds a layer of emotion to this one. He played four years for the Crimson Tide from 2000-04 and later served as an assistant under Oats before taking over at Kennesaw State. Now in his third year at the helm, he’s built a team that’s young, hungry, and playing with purpose.
“I’ve got a major group of guys,” Pettway said. “Our locker room is built on high-character young men. We work extremely hard, so it’s so good to see them have success.”
Kennesaw State is coming off a tough 68-67 road loss to Middle Tennessee, but their 8-3 start ties the best in program history since making the jump to Division I in 2005-06. And while they’re just 1-16 all-time against ranked opponents, they showed last season they’re capable of pulling off an upset, knocking off then-No. 24 Rutgers.
So, Sunday won’t just be a shootout - it’ll be a test of Alabama’s ability to impose its will on the glass. With SEC play right around the corner, this is the kind of game that can reveal whether the Tide are just a scoring machine - or a team ready to grind out wins when the margins get tighter.
Because come January, it won’t just be about how many points you can put up. It’ll be about how many second chances you give away.