Alabama basketball cruised to a late-night win in Las Vegas for the second night in a row, bludgeoning Maryland 105-72 to finish the Players Era Festival with a 2-1 record and improving to 5-2 overall on the young season.
After losing the opener to Gonzaga on Monday night, Alabama bounced back with blowout wins over UNLV and Maryland. The Rebels and Terrapins represented a significant step down in competition from what the Crimson Tide faced in its four previous games, and Nate Oats' team did what it should do against teams that it's better than.
Alabama got it done on Wednesday night with only nine scholarship players available. Along with the known injuries to Collins Onyejiaka and Jalil Bethea, Latrell Wrightsell sat out the three games with a lower-body injury. Sophomore Keitenn Bristow also got banged up against UNLV on Tuesday night and sat out Wednesday's Vegas finale.
Alabama will now head home and get some much-needed rest before returning to the court next Wednesday for the SEC/ACC challenge at home against Clemson.
The most important observations from Alabama's win over Maryland
1. Aiden Sherrell is growing as rim protector
Aiden Sherrell has been known as a finesse big man during his short time in Tuscaloosa. That's changing in his sophomore year.
As a freshman, he only blocked seven shots. Against Maryland alone, Sherrell blocked five shots. It was his second multi-block game in Vegas. He blocked three shots against Gonzaga on Monday.
Rim protection was one of the obvious areas of concern for this team coming into the season. If Sherrell can bring that to the table, it changes a lot for this team's defensive ceiling.
Sherrell capped off a strong performance in the Players Era Festival with 11 points and 9 rebounds to go along with the five blocked shots. He's grown leaps and bounds since his inaugural season with the Crimson Tide.
2. Aden Holloway's run-breaking threes
This game was never in doubt, but it felt like every time Maryland had a little bit of momentum, Aden Holloway was there to drill a three and put an end to it. After shooting poorly against Gonzaga, Holloway connected on 10-of-13 from three-point range against UNLV and Maryland, including a 5-of-7 shooting night on Wednesday.
In 27 minutes, Holloway finished with a double-double (the first of his career) of 17 points and 10 assists. He was in complete control of the game. He got to his spots, made threes, and dropped dime after dime for easy buckets. He keyed the unselfish play that led to Alabama producing 29 assists on 38 made baskets.
3. Labaron Philon can get what he wants
The Labaron Philon-Aden Holloway backcourt may be the best in the country. Those two are practically unstoppable when Holloway's three-point shot is falling. Philon's three-pointer is just a bonus; he can score in bunches without it.
There aren't many in the country who can get to the rim whenever they want quite like Philon. His hesitation dribble and array of step-throughs and euros are NBA-like. He's got a quick first step to knife through the lane, and then when he gets there, he can finish.
He continued his torrid start to the season with 20 points and six assists on another efficient 7-of-11 shooting from the field.
4. Davion Hannah's elite defensive instincts
Not to be outdone by fellow freshmen Amari Allen and London Jemison, Davion Hannah finally had his moment early in the season. He saw his most extended action, playing 16 minutes and scoring 12 points to go along with four rebound and two assists.
He also had an impressive steal and several deflections where he got his hand on the ball. He's shown a preternatural ability to jump passing lanes and make things happen on that end of the floor. He's also a terrific athlete who is capable of skying for rebounds and finishing above the rim.
Oats seems to have struck gold with this freshman class.