Alabama opened exhibition play with a clean offensive burst and enough depth to put Furman away 111-93 on Thursday night inside Coleman Coliseum.
The Crimson Tide leaned on balance all night. Amari Allen led the way with 19 points and six steals, while freshman Tarris Bouie made an immediate impression in his debut with 18 points and a team-high eight rebounds. Qayden Samuels added 17 points, Brandon Garrison finished with 15, Cole Cloer scored 14 and London Jemison chipped in 10 as Alabama put six players in double figures.
The numbers told the story of a team that could score in waves. Alabama shot 56.2 percent from the field, went 16-of-39 from three-point range and got a major lift from its bench, which outscored Furman’s reserves 51-23. The Tide also controlled the paint 50-24 and finished with a 44-38 rebounding edge, helping them own a 17-11 advantage in second-chance points.
Furman had its own scorers. Marcus Kell finished with 22 points, and Abijah Franklin added 21 in the loss.
After the game, Nate Oats pointed to both the upside and the work ahead.
"First time we're together against another team, there's going to be plenty to work on. I'm glad we play quality teams like Furman, they have been the best team in their conference, and they are very well coached. Bob Richey is one of the best teams in the country, so you know we're going to get tested.
Our defense has a long way to go but the good thing is that it's still pretty early. We have plenty of time before we play regular season games that count towards our record.
We had a lot good moments from the young guys. Cole came out early and made some shots for us, which was huge after we started slow offensively.
Cole also was the best defensively tonight for us when you look at efficiency when he was on the floor. Qayden played well in the point guard spot for us in the 14 minutes Amari was off the court.
He was a little out of position being a natural scorer all his life but he played great tonight having only two turnovers in 26 minutes. Tarris ended up winning the hard hat for us tonight, leading us in rebounding and being our second-leading scorer.
We had very balanced scoring tonight with Amari at 19, Tarris at 18, Qayden at 17, and Brandon Garrison at 15 in limited minutes at 16 minutes. I'm very happy with our offensive output, but everyone on the team has to get significantly better on defense.
We gave up too many offensive boards and three-pointers but they are a good offensive team. They are going to expose what you don't do well and we just need to get better defensively."
Alabama’s newcomers were especially productive, combining for 82 points. Four of them - Samuels, Bouie, Garrison and Cloer - reached double figures, and the Tide’s six double-digit scorers included four players with at least 15 points.
The start was a little messy. Furman hit its first three shots before cooling off, and Alabama had to settle in.
At the first media timeout, the Paladins still led 12-10. Then Cloer checked in and changed the tone, knocking down three threes to push Alabama ahead 25-22 with 11:13 left in the first half.
From there, the Tide found their rhythm. A 15-5 run over four minutes stretched the lead to 35-27, and Alabama’s perimeter shooting kept the cushion growing. The Tide went 9-of-16 from deep in the first half and carried a 60-49 lead into the break.
Garrison was a force off the bench before halftime, scoring 13 points on perfect 6-of-6 shooting and adding three rebounds and two assists. Alabama’s reserves scored 26 first-half points, with Cloer contributing nine. The Tide also forced seven Furman turnovers and turned them into 13 points.
The second half followed the same script. Alabama opened by hitting 5-of-9 shots and expanded the lead to 16 points at 71-55. Much of the damage came inside, as the Tide scored 18 of their first 22 points in the paint and stretched the margin to 21 with 12:26 left.
Even during a stretch without a field goal that lasted more than four minutes, Alabama kept Furman at arm’s length by going 6-for-6 at the line. Allen later buried a three-pointer to push the Tide to 100 points with 4:43 remaining, and Alabama closed by hitting eight of its final 11 shots.
Bouie scored 12 of his 18 points in the second half, and Alabama outscored Furman 28-12 in the paint after halftime while shooting 19-of-34 from the field over the final 20 minutes.
It was Alabama’s second straight preseason meeting with Furman that ended in a win of 15 points or more.
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