Alabama basketball got the 2026-27 regular season started on Tuesday night with a 96-74 win over Sam Houston.
It was a strong overall performance for Nate Oats' team, which shook off a cold start from the floor and some clunky early offense to still approach the century mark on the scoreboard.
Alabama's depth was apparent with both Cole Cloer and Anderson Diaz back in action. Alabama went 11 deep in its rotation, and that will only get deeper next week when Aden Holloway makes his return to the court.
Let's take a look at the biggest winners and one loser from the Crimson Tide's 22-point win over Sam Houston:
Buckets
London Jemison
It was a struggle on offense early in the game, but sophomore London Jemison provided the spark Alabama needed. He knocked down his first four shot attempts, including a 3-of-3 mark from three-point range, on his way to 15 points in only 20 minutes of action.
Jemison looked confident in his shot, and he's clearly put in work this offseason. He quietly played well during the exhibition schedule, too, and he's off to a strong start to his second season in Tuscaloosa.
Tarris Bouie
Alabama has a really impressive crop of freshmen. Tarris Bouie continues to stand out as someone who looks like a future star. His energy and effort on both ends are contagious. He always seemed like a guy who would ultimately get squeezed out of the rotation once Alabama was at full strength, but it's getting more and more difficult to see that happening.
Bouie was outstanding in his regular-season debut last night, scoring 13 points and grabbing a team-high 7 rebounds in 19 minutes of play. He also dished out two assists, nabbed two steals, and blocked a shot for good measure.
He's an unbelievable athlete, right on par with Jaxon Richardson. These guys are fun to watch when they get transition opportunities:
Flight TB4 cleared for takeoff... once again 🛫#RollTide | #BlueCollarBasketball pic.twitter.com/H6sAmqX41D
— Alabama Men’s Basketball (@AlabamaMBB) November 4, 2026
Perhaps more encouraging for Bouie is that his jump shot looks pretty good. He hit 2-of-5 from three against Sam Houston, and he looks confident in stepping up and taking open looks.
Alabama's quartet of bigs
It's hard to single out just one of these guys when I think all four of Drew Fielder, Brandon Garrison, Jamarion Davis-Fleming, and Keitenn Bristow played well.
Those four combined for 37 points, 16 rebounds, and 13 stocks (steals + blocks). Garrison won the hard hat with a team-leading 10 deflections, pacing the Crimson Tide's defensive effort that resulted in 23 forced turnovers.
Fielder put up 15 points and 6 rebounds in his regular-season debut.
They could do a bit better of a job on the glass, but it was overall an encouraging effort from the Crimson Tide's frontcourt, which will be pivotal to this team's success.
Brian Adams
If you didn't know, Brian Adams is Alabama's "defensive coordinator." This offseason, Adams and Oats fundamentally changed the Tide's defensive scheme, moving from a predominantly drop coverage unit to a team that switches nearly everything.
That's why Alabama targeted athletic, long bigs like Garrison and Davis-Fleming instead of a guy like Aiden Sherrell. It allows them to be versatile with their defensive coverages, and early results were encouraging.
Sam Houston mitigated a bit of it with a hot shooting night, connecting on 15-of-33 from three-point range, but Alabama held them to 10-of-32 from two, forced 23 turnovers, and blocked 10 shots.
Bigger challenges await, but it's hard not to be encouraged by how Alabama looked on that end of the floor in the opener.
Bricks
Cole Cloer
It was a disappointing debut for NC State transfer Cole Cloer, who was one of the biggest standouts for the Crimson Tide during the two exhibition games he played in. But he suffered a calf injury in practice that forced him to miss the final preseason game against Auburn, and he looked incredibly rusty in his return on Tuesday night.
He played 14 minutes and went 1-of-9 from the field and 0-of-6 from three.
Better days are ahead for Cloer, who displayed his immense potential against Furman and Ole Miss in exhibition play. He's just got to work himself back into a rhythm.
His time is coming.
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