By Chris Woodfin, UA Media Relations
TUSCALOOSA??Despite the absence of All-American Ron Steele, eighth ranked Alabama opened the game with a 10-0 run and never trailed to improve to 5-0 on the season with a 74-44 win over Texas Southern in Coleman Coliseum on Saturday night.
Without their point guard the Crimson Tide struggled offensively, shooting a season-low 39.2 percent from the field. However, Alabama controlled the game thanks to a strong rebounding edge. Alabama had a season best 60 rebounds on the night, including 24 offensive boards that led to a 23-11 advantage in second chance points.
Jermareo Davidson and Richard Hendrix made up for Steele’s absence for Alabama with a pair of double-doubles. Davidson had a game-high 16 points to go with 11 rebounds and eight blocks, and Hendrix had his first double figure rebounding performance of the season with a game-best 12 rebounds as well as 15 points.
Also for the Tide, junior Mykal Riley had 12 points and freshman Demetrius Jemison had a career best 10 rebounds.
Alabama head coach Mark Gottfried saw some positives in his team’s performance despite the offensive struggles.
“Without Ron [Steele] playing, obviously, I don’t think we were connecting on all cylinders,” Gottfried said. “But a lot of guys did a lot of things well. That was the most important thing. Guys like Richard [Hendrix] and Jermareo [Davidson] had good games.”
“Guys came off of the bench and did a good job,” Gottfried said. “Demetrius Jemison jumps out there with 10 rebounds in 16 minutes. He did a pretty nice job as well. A lot of guys played well. We rebounded the ball really well tonight against Texas Southern. We defended them pretty well. But we can still get better in a lot of areas. But, again, overall without Ron playing tonight I thought our guys did what they needed to do to win.”
Texas Southern, who fell to 1-4 on the season was led by Sollie Norwood’s 16 points. Jacques Jones posted a double-double with 10 points and 10 rebounds on the night for the Tigers.
The Tide returns to action next Tuesday night in Tuscaloosa against Louisiana-Monroe, coached by former Tide assistant Orlando Early. Tip-off for the contest is set for 7:00.
