Alabama
3-0,0-0SEC
South Alabama
1-2,0-0Sun Belt
Alabama’s Rebounding Proves to be the Difference in 65-55 Road Win at South Alabama
11/16/2022 12:43:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Jahvon Quinerly made his season debut for the Crimson Tide in the victory
MOBILE, Ala. – The Alabama men's basketball team improved to 3-0 Tuesday night as the Tide picked up their first road win of the season, defeating South Alabama 65-55. For the third straight game to open the season the Crimson Tide dominated the glass, out-rebounding South Alabama 63-40.
Alabama opened up the game in the second half as the Tide held a 20-point lead (59-39) with just under seven and a half minutes left in the game. Eight different players scored for the Tide led by Brandon Miller with 19 points to go along with eight rebounds, three assists and one block.
For the third straight game Alabama controlled the glass, out-rebounding South Alabama 63-40, led by Noah Clowney's 15 rebounds, the most by an Alabama player this season. The Tide's 25 offensive rebounds led to 22 second chance points.
Jahvon Quinerly, a preseason SEC All-Conference and Bob Cousy Watch List honoree, made his season debut as he returned from an ACL injury he suffered in the opening game of the 2022 NCAA Tournament last March.
Head Coach Nate Oats Postgame Comments
"This is a good road win. It is our first road game of the year and offensively we were not very good for large stretches of the game; way too many turnovers and didn't hit a shot for a while there. Offensive rebounding saved us there, which it has for a good part of the year, particularly in our first game and this game so it was huge for (Noah) Clowney to get eight offensive boards himself and 15 rebounds that was huge. That is why he is in the starting lineup because he plays so hard and rebounds the ball. Offensively we got a lot of work to do, we just are not anywhere close on where we are going to be or need to be but defensively I give our guys a ton of credit and give South a lot of credit."
Team Stats
- Alabama went into the game with a +25.5 rebound margin against its opponents and tonight the Tide out-rebounded South Alabama 63-40
- Alabama had six players grab at least five rebounds
- Brandon Miller recorded his third straight double-digit scoring game with a team-high 19 points
- First time since 2011-12 Alabama has held three straight opponents under 60 points to start the season
- Alabama's defense forced South Alabama to shoot 29.6 percent from the field (21-71) from the field and 8.7 percent (2-23) from three-point range
First Half
- Brandon Miller kickstarted Alabama's offense, scoring eight of the Tide's first 12 points
- Alabama held the Jaguars scoreless for over three and a half minutes to take a 12-4 lead early in the contest
- Despite struggling to extend its lead, the Crimson Tide defense continued to perform well through the early part of the year, holding South Alabama to a pair of scoring droughts
- The Tide held the Jaguars to 1-of-11 shooting in the first while a short time later holding USA scoreless for just over three minutes
- Alabama had 16 second chance points while holding the Jaguars to five points in comparison
- The Tide outrebounded South Alabama 35-20 across the first 20 minutes.
- Miller led all scorers with 11 points in the first half.
Second Half
- After South Alabama cut Alabama's lead to single-digits (41-32) the Tide went on a 12-2 run over four minutes midway through the half
- Jahvon Quinerly made his season debut at the 7:59 mark, returning from an ACL injury suffered in the NCAA Tournament last season
- South Alabama went on a 14-3 run over from 7:20 to 00:52 to cut Alabama's lead to single-digits.
Up Next
- Alabama will return home to close out the week to face Jacksonville State.
- Tipoff is set for 8 p.m. on Friday, Nov. 18th, and can be seen on the ESPN SEC Network.
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