In Sunday's Rocket City Classic, Alabama basketball broke out to a big lead in the first half and then completely fell asleep for the final 20 minutes in a 92-81 win over Antoine Pettway's Kennesaw State.
Nate Oats will have plenty of teaching moments from this game as the Crimson Tide lacked intensity for stretches in the second half and were ultimately outscored in the final 20 minutes by the Owls by 15. Alabama had a 54-28 edge at halftime.
The effort level in the second half wasn't good enough after Alabama started the game with a strong effort on both ends.
Aiden Sherrell led the way with 21 points, and both Labaron Philon and Aden Holloway finished with 17 in the Tide's win.
The most important observations from Alabama's win over Kennesaw State
1. Alabama's rebounding issues continue to be a major concern
There's no real excuse for it against a mid-major. The effort level, particularly in the second half, wasn't good enough for Alabama, and it showed on the glass. Again.
Alabama's biggest weakness, and the thing that will likely prevent it from being one of the last teams standing this year, is rebounding. Everyone in the locker room knows it. Oats has been banging the drum about it even before the season started. Nothing has changed.
Alabama finished -5 on the glass and allowed 15 more offensive rebounds. There's just really not much to say about it at this point.
2. Alabama's second half defensive effort was poor
Alabama lost the second half by 15 points against a mid-major opponent that came into the game ranked 165th in KenPom. That was in large part due to the Crimson Tide falling asleep on the glass and on the defensive end of the floor completely.
Alabama allowed 53 points in the second half after holding Kennesaw to just 28 points in the first 20 minutes. Part of that is due to a lack of intensity after breaking out to a 26-point first-half advantage, but none of it will make Oats happy. And it shouldn't.
He talked before the game about maintaining intensity on the defensive end of the floor, no matter the scoreboard. Alabama didn't do it.
3. Aiden Sherrell continues to blossom
For weeks, Aiden Sherrell has been doing the dirty work. Rebounding, blocking shots, and making the effort plays to help Alabama win games. He took on a starring role offensively against Kennesaw State, pouring in a career-high 21 points. He added seven rebounds and two blocked shots, for good measure.
Sherrell continues to blossom in his sophomore season. He's taken major strides and has morphed into one of the better big men in the SEC.
His ability to handle an increased minutes load this season is pivotal with the struggles of Noah Williamson. Oats will rely on him a lot in conference play, and Sherrell is proving he can hold up.
4. It might be time to worry about Latrell Wrightsell's shooting
Oats said a couple of weeks ago that he wasn't worried about Latrell Wrightsell's struggles shooting the ball. I wasn't either. That seemed vindicated after Wrightsell connected on 3-of-6 from three against Arizona, but he's now 1-of-9 over the last two games and for the season has hit just 12-of-47 (25.5%)from downtown.
In the previous two seasons at Alabama, Wrightsell was one of the nation's elite three-point shooters, connecting on well over 40% of his attempts. He's also a career 87% free-throw shooter, so his issues with hitting three-pointers this year have been surprising.
Wrightsell is coming back from a torn Achilles tendon last season, so he's still getting comfortable out there. But the shooting is a concern right now. Smart money says he snaps out of it, though.