Alabama basketball dominated the South Carolina Gamecocks and rolled to an 88-68 win in Columbia to move to 2-0 in SEC play and 13-2 overall.
Alabama got off to a hot start in the first half on offense and put up 1.406 points per possession in the game's first 20 minutes. Alabama shot 18/30 (60%) from the field, 6/11 (54.5%) from three, and just 3/8 from the free throw line as they built a 45-28 halftime advantage.
Alabama started a bit lethargic in the second half, prompting Nate Oats to do a complete line change after just a couple of minutes, benching all five starters for five reserves. The bench pushed the lead back to 20 and the Crimson Tide overcame some brief lapses to keep the Gamecocks at bay.
Mark Sears led Alabama in scoring with 22 points. Aden Holloway (13) and Cliff Omoruyi (10) also finished in double-figures in scoring.
Three takeaways from the Alabama win
3. Mo Dioubate's defense on Collin Murray-Boyles made a huge impact
Mo Dioubate is Alabama's best overall defender and he drew the assignment for a good chunk of the night against South Carolina leading scorer Collin Murray-Boyles. Dioubate is one of the nation's most versatile defenders with his ability to hold up defensively on the perimeter and in the post.
He frustrated Murray-Boyles and held him to just 6 points on 1-6 shooting. He came into the game averaging 15.8 points per game.
Dioubate had one sequence in particular in the first half that was impressive. He met Murray-Boyles at the apex for a block and then ran the floor and ended up with an and-one at the rim.
Dioubate continues to earn minutes with his all-out play style on both ends of the floor. His energy and effort is huge for the Crimson Tide.
2. Mark Sears looked like the preseason National Player of the Year
Alabama got off to a bit of an uneven start on the road, and when that happens you look to your star player to calm things down and go get some buckets. Sears did just that and had a near-perfect first half from the floor. He was 4/4 from three and 5/6 overall on his way to 16 first-half points to help the Crimson Tide open up a big lead.
For the game, Sears finished with 22 points and 6 assists. His feel for the game and taking what the defense is giving him has improved since the beginning of the season when it felt like he was pressing a bit too much.
Sears was coming off a double-double against Oklahoma in the SEC opener and strung together another outstanding performance to lead Alabama to a 20-point road victory.
1. Alabama's bench depth was the difference
Alabama's bench outscored the South Carolina bench 39-4 on Wednesday night. And that four points for the Gamecocks came in the final 90 seconds of the game. Alabama's depth was overwhelming and it is probably this team's biggest strength.
There's not many teams out there that can go 10 or 11 deep. There are even fewer teams that can do that after losing a key player to a season-ending injury like the Crimson Tide did with Latrell Wrightsell. Alabama's depth is what gives Oats the luxury to make a complete line change and bench all five starters as he did early in the second half.
Aden Holloway led the way off the bench, scoring 13 points on 5-of-7 shooting and three assists. Derrion Reid scored 9 and Aiden Sherrell and Mo Dioubate had 7 each.
Alabama's depth will be overwhelming for a lot of teams. It certainly was tonight for South Carolina.
Alabama will now head to College Station to face off against Texas A&M on Saturday night for its second consecutive SEC road game.