Alabama limped into Wednesday night's matchup against Clemson. With Latrell Wrightsell and Keitenn Bristow still out, the Crimson Tide got some unfortunate injury news prior to the game when Nate Oats ruled out second-leading scorer Aden Holloway with a flare-up from the wrist injury that forced him to miss the season opener.
Miami (FL) transfer Jalil Bethea made his Alabama debut, but was limited with a minutes restriction and only played six minutes. Alabama was effectively reduced to just an eight-man rotation, and really just seven if you discount the five minutes that Noah Williamson played.
That put a major burden on Alabama's starters, and they delivered. The Tide jumped out to an early 19-point lead and led by 15 at halftime. Clemson battled back and ultimately took the lead for a moment in the second half, but Alabama made the plays down the stretch to grab a gutsy 90-84 win over a Top 25 team in KenPom despite being severely hampered by injuries.
The most important observations from Alabama's win over Clemson
1. Amari Allen was Alabama's MVP
With due respect to Labaron Philon - who we will talk a lot more about later - freshman Amari Allen felt like Alabama's MVP. With Holloway out, Allen made his first start for the Crimson Tide and more than delivered.
He came up with pivotal play after pivotal play, stuffing the stat sheet in the process. Allen finished with a double-double of 20 points and 11 rebounds, while also dishing out four assists. It was a concerted effort by Oats to put Allen in more on-ball situations to try and build that part of his game with Holloway and Wrightsell sidelined and Bethea's minutes restriction.
Allen played bully-ball for most of the night, using his size to take advantage of Clemson's guards in the post. He also came up with several key loose balls, including one late in the second half that led to a crucial Houston Mallette three.
Allen has been every bit the player Oats billed him to be in the preseason.
2. Labaron Philon continues to state his National Player of the Year case
If there has been a better guard in college basketball this season, I've yet to see it. Without Holloway, Philon knew coming in that a lot of this game was going to be on his shoulders. He, as usual, did not disappoint.
Philon scored a game-high 29 points with three assists. He was an efficient 9-of-17 from the floor and connected on all eight of his free throw attempts. Philon had been struggling from the foul line (63%), so seeing him step up and make critical foul shots in a close game was massive.
Philon can score in a multitude of ways. He's developed into a good outside shooter, but he's as good as it gets when it comes to getting to the rim and finishing. He has an elite hesitation dribble and a preternatural ability to shield bigger defenders with his body to score in the paint.
3. Aiden Sherrell has become an elite shot blocker
There's no better sign for Alabama's defense moving forward than Aiden Sherrell morphing into prime Dikembe Mutombo out of nowhere.
Sherrell had a career-high eight blocked shots against Clemson, consistently erasing shots at the rim. For context, Sherrell blocked seven shots all of last season. After only recording four blocks in the first four games of the season (all against North Dakota in the opener), Sherrell has now blocked 17 shots in Alabama's last four games.
Sherrell only scored five points, but still made a monster impact in his 29 minutes. Along with the eight blocks, he also grabbed 10 rebounds. Sherrell avoiding foul trouble and staying on the floor has been pivotal for Alabama recently. He'll need to continue that trend with Williamson continuing to look lost.
4. London Jemison is quickly figuring things out
He may not be playing at an Amari Allen level, but fellow freshman London Jemison is figuring things out. He may not have been playing as many early minutes as he has if not for all the injuries Alabama has dealt with, but his baptism by fire is paying major dividends already.
Jemison built off his impressive performances in the last two games in Las Vegas with another strong showing off the bench on Wednesday. Jemison scored 18 points against UNLV and 11 against Maryland in the last two games of the Players Era Festival. He followed that up with 13 points, two rebounds, and two steals against Clemson.
Jemison connected on 3-of-6 from three-point range, including a massive corner three in the second half to give Alabama the lead back after Clemson had pulled ahead for the first time.
On a night where Alabama was severely banged up, Jemison gave Oats huge minutes to help get the win.