Playing short-handed for a second straight road game, Alabama had to dig deep to come-from-behind against Oklahoma despite a rough first-half.
After beating Mississippi State on Tuesday in Starkville with only eight healthy scholarship players available, the Crimson Tide had an extra man against the Sooners with Taylor Bol Bowen able to play, though he was obviously limited in what he could do with his hand injury.
Alabama fell behind 44-33 at halftime, but battled back with a quick 12-0 run out of the locker room to take the lead, but could never pull away. Oklahoma led for a bulk of the second-half, but some big-time shots by Labaron Philon down the stretch and some key defensive stops helped the Crimson Tide pull out an 83-81 road win.
The most important observations from Alabama's win over Oklahoma
1. Labaron Philon struggled, but put Alabama on his back when it mattered
Labaron Philon struggled for the better part of the first 35 minutes of the game, but as he typically does, came through when it mattered the most. His jumper wasn't falling, he was missing shots near the rim in atypical fashion, and at one point, he was just 1-of-5 from the free-throw line.
But Philon is a star. And stars don't get bogged down by what has happened previously. When it's winning time, they go make winning plays. And Philon did that.
Trailing 73-67 with under four minutes to play, Philon connected on back-to-back three-pointers to tie the game.
A few minutes later, with Alabama leading by one, Philon hit a tough reverse lay-up plus the foul to put the Crimson Tide up by four points. He still found a way to finish with 23 points.
Alabama had far from its best stuff in Norman, but Philon pulled them through as your stars have to do on difficult days.
2. Aiden Sherrell continues to blossom
As a sophomore, Aiden Sherrell has blossomed into one of the best bigs in the SEC. And that has been critical for the Crimson Tide with a lack of depth on the interior. Outside of the performance against Kentucky, it's been a difficult year for Noah Williamson, and both Taylor Bol Bowen and Keitenn Bristow have dealt with various injuries.
Sherrell put up a second consecutive 20+ outing. He followed up a career-high against Mississippi State on Tuesday with 21 points and nine rebounds against Oklahoma.
He went on a personal 7-0 run at one point in the second half, turning a five-point Alabama deficit into a two-point lead.
He was an efficient 8-of-12 from the floor and was a deterrent at the rim on the other end, like he has been all year.
3. Alabama's second-half rebounding was massive
Alabama was -6 on the glass in the first half and allowed Oklahoma to gather 12 offensive boards in the first 20 minutes. The Sooners only got five in the second-half, however, and Alabama won the rebounding battle in the final 20 minutes by four.
Oklahoma was the tougher team in the first half, but Alabama dug deep in the second half to flip the script. Sherrell (nine) and Amari Allen (eight) keyed the effort on the glass, but Houston Mallette's six boards off the bench were pivotal, too.
4. Alabama weathered a difficult road stretch while short-handed
Neither Mississippi State nor Oklahoma is going to finish near the top of the conference. Probably not in the top half. But going on the road and winning back-to-back league games is difficult for anyone. It's especially difficult when you are as beat up as Alabama is.
Alabama had only eight healthy scholarship players against Mississippi State, and only nine against Oklahoma. And that's not counting the fact that Philon and Sherrell have been playing at less than 100%, and Bol Bowen was nowhere close to that mark in his return in Norman.
This was a pivotal stretch for Alabama to survive, and now they'll get a week off to get healthy before facing Tennessee next Saturday. It might not normally be ideal to get your mid-week bye this early in conference play, but it comes at a perfect time for Nate Oats and his team.