In a hotly contested, physical, and outright chippy exhibition matchup in Birmingham on Thursday night, Alabama edged Auburn 87-85 to win The Feud at Legacy Arena. The game doesn't count for anything, but not a player on either team believed that based on how hard everyone played.
Nate Oats and Steven Pearl got the exact type of game they both wanted, one that will pay dividends at the beginning of the regular season. It was a street fight, and Alabama got the better of Auburn on the court and had to withstand a couple of cheap shots in the aftermath.
Neither team was at full strength, with Auburn missing a few guys tied up in litigation, and Alabama playing without the suspended Aden Holloway and injured freshmen Cole Cloer and Anderson Diaz. Cloer played the first two exhibitions but was held out for precautionary reasons against Auburn and is expected to return for the regular season opener.
Here's what we learned:
1. Amari Allen took over the game down the stretch
It was a slow start to the game for sophomore Amari Allen. He only scored three points in the first half, but he came alive in the second half and took the Crimson Tide home down the stretch.
Allen scored 20 of his team-high 23 points in the second half and came up with a critical play with the game on the line. Tied at 80, Allen drove to the basket and converted a basket plus the foul to put the Tide up 83-80.
Playing without Holloway and Diaz, most of the playmaking was on Allen's shoulders. He ran the offense effectively and showed that he can be the primary initiator. Getting Holloway back will be big for him and the team, though.
2. Qayden Samuels is a certified bucket-getter
The efficiency numbers weren't great for freshman Qayden Samuels tonight, but he's a walking bucket. He's got a deep bag, and he's unafraid of the moment. He led Alabama in plus-minus at +17 and scored 20 points with 4 rebounds and 4 assists. Better yet, he did that without turning the ball over.
He was only 6-of-19 from the floor, but he looks like that extra ball-handler that Alabama will need. He'll feast even more when Holloway is back on the floor, and he can play more off the ball and get more chances in catch-and-shoot.
3. Alabama got excellent minutes from Keitenn Bristow
With Jamarion Davis-Fleming in foul trouble and Brandon Garrison struggling a bit, Alabama needed someone else in the frontcourt to step up. Enter Keitenn Bristow, who looked a lot more like the player we saw in his debut last year against Illinois than the one we'd seen since.
He played 29 important minutes and scored 9 points with 8 rebounds, including 4 on the offensive end. He also added 4 blocked shots.
That's the kind of energy and effort Alabama needs from Bristow, and it's the exact type that will ultimately earn him minutes on a deep roster.
4. Jaxon Richardson's defensive impact was obvious
Alabama fans finally got to see freshman Jaxon Richardson, who missed the first two exhibition games. He was on a pitch count and only logged 10 minutes, but his impact was immediately and obviously felt.
He didn't log an offensive statistic, but he was a demon on the defensive end. It was obvious quickly how much Oats trusted him on that end of the floor, putting him on Auburn star guard Tahaad Pettiford from the outset.
Oats had high praise for Richardson in the aftermath of his debut:
"He's got the potential to be one of the best, if not the best, defender I've ever coached. And that's saying something because I had Herb Jones for two years," Oats said.
5. The Feud produced an awesome game and an awesome environment, despite the chippiness
You had to expect some chippiness in this game with these two teams. There's no love lost on either side of this rivalry. It has become one of the biggest basketball rivalries in the sport over the last decade, and that's pretty cool.
It was intense and physical on the court, and it was loud in the stands. Both sides' fans showed up and showed out.
After Alabama finished off the two-point win, things got super chippy again with a couple of cheap shots by frustrated Auburn players who are undoubtedly sick of losing to Alabama as often as they've been:
MORE action between Alabama and Auburn as the final buzzer sounds 👀 pic.twitter.com/XF5p2gbU38
— The Field of 68 (@TheFieldOf68) October 23, 2026
Exhibition or not, that's now four straight wins for Alabama in this series. I'd be mad, too.
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