Alabama opened its season Tuesday night at home and, after a sluggish start, turned Sam Houston away for a 96-74 win.
The Crimson Tide leaned on length, depth, and a wave of athletic plays to take control, even if the first few minutes were messy. Nate Oats started Amari Allen, Qayden Samuels, London Jemison, Drew Fielder, and Brandon Garrison, while Sam Houston countered with Jacobs Coleman, Justin Begg, Enel St.
Bernard, Aidan McDowell, and Cheikh Ndiaye. Alabama had a clear size edge from the jump, but it didn’t show immediately.
The Tide were up only 6-2 with 15:52 left in the half, and with 14:55 remaining they still led just 6-5 while going 0-7 from three. Oats kept the rotation moving in short bursts, sending players in by pairs.
The first long ball finally dropped when Jemison connected with under 14 minutes left, pushing Alabama ahead 11-7. Not long after that, highly regarded freshman Jaxon Richardson threw down a breakaway dunk to make it 13-7.
Freshman point guard Anderson Diaz also got his first action of the season after missing time with a wrist injury. By the 10:08 mark, Alabama was ahead 14-10 and on pace for 56 points. Then Tarris Bouie added one of the night’s best highlights, finishing a windmill dunk after an Amari Allen basket to stretch the lead to 20-12 with 8:10 left.
From there, the Tide started to separate. Fielder and Bouie each hit from deep, Jemison followed with another pair of threes, and Alabama pushed the margin to 37-20 with 3:45 remaining. Sam Houston trimmed that to 40-29 by halftime, but the Tide had already built a comfortable cushion while using eight players for at least 10 minutes in the opening period.
Jemison paced Alabama in the first half with 10 points on perfect shooting, adding two rebounds and two steals. Bouie had seven points, four rebounds, a block, and a steal. Fielder scored six and grabbed four rebounds, while Allen chipped in five points, two rebounds, three assists, a block, and two steals.
The numbers reflected the uneven opening stretch. Alabama shot 16-38 in the first half, including 4-15 from deep, and made 4-6 free throws. The Tide also collected 24 rebounds, including eight on the offensive glass, while posting eight assists, seven blocks, seven steals, and seven turnovers.
Sam Houston, meanwhile, shot 9-30 in the first half and 5-15 from three. Coleman had 10 points to lead the Bearkats at the break, with Pipkin adding eight.
Alabama came out of halftime and finished the job quickly. The Tide scored inside to start the second half, then Jemison buried another jumper from long range with 18:55 left to make it 45-29.
When the lead reached 18 at 49-31, Sam Houston called timeout. Samuels answered with a three after the stoppage, and the margin kept growing as Alabama’s length and pressure bothered the Bearkats.
Keitenn Bristow knocked down a three for a 61-34 lead with 14:34 remaining, and Oats kept cycling bodies through the lineup while everyone seemed to chip in. The lead reached 90-61 with 3:50 left, though Oats was not pleased with how the game finished after Sam Houston outscored Alabama 13-6 the rest of the way.
Alabama shot 20-37 in the second half, hit 6-16 from three, and went 14-19 at the line after the break. For the game, the Tide finished 36-75 from the field, 10-31 from deep, and 14-19 at the stripe. They also piled up 42 rebounds, 17 assists, 10 blocks, 17 steals, and 10 turnovers.
Jemison and Fielder each finished with 15 points for Alabama. Jemison went 6-7 from the floor and 3-4 from three, while adding three rebounds, two steals, and an assist.
Fielder matched him with six rebounds and an assist. Bouie added 13 points, seven rebounds, two assists, two steals, and a block.
Allen scored 12 points and contributed four rebounds, four assists, two steals, and a block without a turnover as the primary ball handler. Garrison had nine points, four rebounds, two blocks, three steals, and seven deflections, while Samuels also scored nine and led the team with five assists and four steals.
Bristow scored five points and added three rebounds, four blocks, and two steals. Cole Cloer had a rough opener, going 1-9 from the field and 0-6 from three.
Sam Houston shot 16-35 in the second half and 10-18 from deep, finishing the game 25-65 overall, 15-33 from three, and 9-16 at the line. The Bearkats ended with 45 rebounds, 17 assists, six blocks, seven steals, and 23 turnovers.
Coleman led them with 16 points and six rebounds, Begg added 13 points, four rebounds, and four assists, and St. Bernard finished with five points, eight rebounds, and three assists.
Afterward, Oats liked the win but pointed to rebounding and late-game defense as issues, especially Sam Houston’s 10 made threes in the second half, most of them coming in the final four to five minutes. He also noted that 11 players logged double-digit minutes, five played 20 or more, and none played more than 21.
Oats said Aiden Holloway will be back in the team’s third game, which will leave 12 players competing for minutes. He added, “if they don’t play hard, play defense, rebound, and take good shots when they are there, they will be sitting.”
Alabama looked bigger and longer, and the roster’s size, quickness, and bounce showed up in stretches. Bouie and Richardson gave the Tide extra athletic juice, and the early read is that rebounding could become a real strength.
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