Alabama
1-0,0-0SEC
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UNC Asheville
0-1,0-0Big South
No. 2/2 Alabama Opens 2024-25 Season with a 110-54 Victory over UNC Asheville
11/4/2024 11:42:00 PM | Men's Basketball
The Tide had seven players score in double figures to open the season in lopsided fashion
TUSCALOOSA, Ala. - The No. 2/2 Alabama men's basketball team opened its 2024-25 season by defeating UNC Asheville, 110-54, inside Coleman Coliseum on Monday night.
The Crimson Tide led wire-to-wire en route to the program's fifth consecutive season-opening victory and the second-straight season in which Alabama surpassed 100 points to open the season.
Mark Sears led the Crimson Tide with 20 points, marking the 50th time that the senior has scored 20-or-more points in a contest. In addition to Sears, six players scored in double figures, including Clifford Omoruyi (16), Latrell Wrightsell Jr. (13), Mouhamed Dioubate (11), Aden Holloway (11) and Labaron Philon (10).
UNC Asheville was led by Jordan Marsh's 13 points. Marsh also collected two rebounds and two assists.
Head Coach Nate Oats Postgame Comments
"I thought it was a good opening night for us. It's the first time we had all these guys available. It was a good game for some guys to get their feet wet. I thought our start defensively was great. I thought Mark Sears' defensive effort was significantly better than it was last year. I love the fact that the crowd recognized how hard he was playing on defense.
The crowd was unbelievable. Best crowd we've had for an opener since I've been here, so we need to keep continuing like that. Huge thank you to the student section – I heard that we had more students wanting to come than we had room for, so that's great and we need it to be that way for every game this season. Thankful for all of the season ticket holders that couldn't make it but got people in their seats, so that was great.
We've got some young guys that we need to get some experience. I thought Labaron Philon looked great and he almost had a double-double with nine assists. Aiden Sherrell won the hard hat, he had nine rebounds in limited minutes and Derrion Reid had some big-time plays, too. He had nine points and six rebounds and I thought that he started to get more comfortable out there. I'm happy with the effort from everybody, but the games are going to get tougher from here."
TEAM STATS
- Monday's matchup marked the first between the Crimson Tide and the Bulldogs
- Clifford Omoruyi, Labaron Philon and Derrion Reid all made their first starts as members of the Crimson Tide on Monday
- The Tide scored 50 points in the first half on Monday; UA surpassed the 50-point mark five times in the opening half last season
- Tonight's 110 points marks the 22nd time in the Nate Oats era that the Tide has passed the century mark in a game including consecutive season openers
- The 110-point output was the most for the Crimson Tide since December 23 of last season, when UA defeated Eastern Kentucky, 110-67
- The 56-point margin of victory is the largest margin of victory to open a season in Coach Oats' tenure, with the previous high being 32 points against Morehead State last year
- The Tide turned in an impressive shooting performance, shooting 63 percent from the field (38-of-60)
- Philon shined in his collegiate debut, scoring 10 points on 4-of-7 shooting with nine assists, three steals and two blocked shots
FIRST HALF
- Alabama found the scoreboard on its first possession of the season when Jarin Stevenson connected on a jump shot with 19:31 to play in the opening half, sparking a 9-0 scoring run
- The Tide quickly extended the lead, building a 15-point cushion at the under 12-minute media timeout
- UA maintained a double-digit lead for the remainder of the opening half despite
- The Tide used a 13-0 run over a span of 4:36, capitalized by consecutive dunks from Omoruyi to extend the lead to 26, 46-20, with four minutes left in the half
- Ten different Alabama players found the scoresheet during the first half, including five players who scored their first points in Crimson and White
- UA converted on 18-of-29 field goal attempts (62 percent) in the half and scored 28 points in the paint
- Defensively, the Tide limited UNC Asheville to 29 points on 10-of-34 (29 percent) shooting
- Alabama dominated the glass in the first half, 27-15
SECOND HALF
- Much of the same continued in the second half after the Tide sparked a 17-5 run over 4:50 to take a commanding, 81-47 lead with just over half of the period remaining
- The Tide passed the century mark with just over five minutes left to play in the game when Latrell Wrightsell Jr. drilled a three-pointer to increase the lead to 46 points
- Alabama ended the final seven minutes of the game on a 21-2 run, including a 15-0 run across the final five-plus minutes
- The Crimson Tide's effective shooting performance continued into the second half, when UA connected on 20-of-31 attempts (65 percent)
UP NEXT
- Alabama returns to Coleman Coliseum this Friday night to square-off with Arkansas State, coached by former Nate Oats assistant coach Bryan Hodgson
- The Crimson Tide will tip-off against the Red Wolves at 7 p.m. CT with the contest airing live on the SEC Network+
