Alabama got a real test in its second preseason outing, and the Crimson Tide answered with enough firepower and grit to outlast Ole Miss 92-84 on Thursday night in the annual Ballin' in Boutwell exhibition game in Birmingham.
The win pushed Alabama to 2-0 in the preseason, powered by a balanced scoring night and a clear edge on the glass. The Tide shot 50 percent from the floor, controlled the boards 45-28 and got double-digit scoring from six different players.
Amari Allen, a preseason All-SEC performer, led the way with 19 points and five assists. Freshman Cole Cloer kept rolling with 18 points, knocking down 4 of 8 from three and adding four assists.
Drew Fielder posted a double-double with 11 points and 10 rebounds, while London Jemison scored 13. Jamarion Davis-Fleming and Qayden Samuels each finished with 12.
Ole Miss stayed close behind Corey Stephenson’s 25 points off the bench and Budd Clark’s 15 points and seven assists, but Alabama’s depth and interior work made the difference. The Crimson Tide grabbed 14 offensive rebounds and turned them into 20 second-chance points, while also holding Ole Miss to 20 percent shooting from beyond the arc, just 4 of 20.
It was not a clean night, though. Nate Oats had plenty to point to afterward, especially the turnovers and stretches of sloppy defense.
"There's a reason we play good teams in the exhibitions, it helps to expose some stuff that we need to work on as a team. Our transition defense was not the best but our rebounding in the first half was great.
Turnovers were a disaster tonight, we had 20 of them and four guys with three or more. Only two guys who played tonight did not have any turnovers.
"Ole Miss did a good job hanging in there. We had a couple chances to put them away and just couldn't.
They had a 10-0 run before we scored the last bucket of the first half. We started the game well but closed the first half terribly, and the start of the second half was not good on defense.
"We need to get better but it's good that we are playing them. (Ole Miss head coach) Coach (Chris) Beard is one of the best defensive coaches in the country and their team did a great job defensively tonight.
It is good for our young guys to learn and get prepared in these types of games. Some of our guys did well offensively against Furman but did not prepare the best coming into today.
So it is important we have these games to learn how to prepare."
Alabama built and rebuilt its cushion multiple times in the first half. After Ole Miss jumped ahead 7-4, Cloer and Samuels each scored five points to help the Tide move in front 15-14. The Rebels answered with a 6-0 burst, but Alabama swung right back with a 12-4 run in two minutes, fueled by four straight threes, to lead 29-24.
That stretch grew into a 23-9 run that gave Alabama a 40-29 advantage. Ole Miss finished the half with a 10-0 push, trimming the Tide’s lead to 42-39 at the break.
Cloer led all scorers with 10 points at halftime and had four assists, while Alabama held a 24-14 rebounding edge and collected nine offensive boards. The flip side: 12 turnovers that led to 15 Ole Miss points.
The Tide came out well in the second half, hitting 5 of 7 shots to push the lead to 53-46 with 15:59 left. A 15-3 run over the next six minutes carried Alabama to its biggest lead of the night at 65-47. Ole Miss answered again, pulling within 70-59, then closing to 86-83 with 2:46 remaining during a 37-21 stretch that stretched across nearly nine minutes.
Alabama settled things at the line, going 6 of 6 from the free-throw stripe in the final three minutes to close out the eight-point win. The Tide also tightened defensively late, finishing the game by denying a field goal over the last 4:35, with Ole Miss going 0 of 7 in that span.
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