Alabama basketball overcame a rocky offensive start to roll over the Georgia Bulldogs 90-69 thanks to a spirited effort on the offensive end in the second half.
Alabama took a 24-10 lead over Georgia at the under 12 media timeout of the first half, but endured a prolonged slump on offense after that, scoring just four points in the next nine minutes, including a scoring drought that ended for five and a half minutes.
It was the Crimson Tide's defensive effort in the first half that allowed it to maintain a nine point lead at halftime. In the first half, Alabama allowed just 0.70 points per possession and held the Bulldogs to just 28 points.
Alabama came out firing in the second half led by fifth-year senior Mark Sears, who led the Crimson Tide in scoring with 20 points.
Grant Nelson finished with a double-double of 16 points and 10 rebounds. He was huge protecting the rim and finished with five blocked shots.
Alabama improved to 19-3 overall and 8-1 in SEC play with the win and now get a week off before traveling to Fayetteville to face Arkansas next Saturday.
3 Takeaways from Alabama's win over Georgia
3. Aiden Sherrell continues to develop
Raise your hand if you had freshman center Aiden Sherrell as the leading scorer for Alabama in the first half.
After some early season struggles, the freshman big man has turned into a quality rotational player for the Crimson Tide. His ability as a stretch-five is exciting and opens up some lineup possibilities that are just devastating on offense.
Sherrell finished with 12 points, 7 rebounds, an assist, a steal, and a blocked shot. He connected on both of his three-point attempts in the first half.
Sherrell's development is huge for this team as it gives them another big body who can help protect the rim and his offensive game is beginning to blossom.
2. Alabama's turnovers remain concerning
It speaks to how good this team is that they can blow out a quality opponent at home despite turning it over at a high clip. The Crimson Tide turned it over 20 times and as a result allowed Georgia to attempt 19 more shots than they did.
That's not tenable moving forward as the meat of Alabama's non-conference schedule is ahead of them. Georgia is a good team and a projected NCAA Tournament team, but they aren't on the same level as the top tier teams in the SEC still on the Tide's schedule like Auburn, Florida, and Tennessee.
Sears led the team in scoring, but he was once again careless with the basketball, especially in the first half. He led the way with six turnovers, five of which occurred in the first half. You have to credit him for taking care of the ball better in the second half, but more is expected out of the All-American guard.
Both Labaron Philon and Aden Holloway take care of the ball better and I'd like to see more lineups that feature one of them as the primary ball-handler with Sears taking a more off the ball role.
1. Alabama will be tough for anyone to beat when they shoot like this
Alabama's ceiling raises tremendously if they can continue shooting threes at a high clip like they have the last two games. Coming off of the midweek win at Mississippi State where they went 15/31 from three, the Tide connected on 11/26 (42.3%) from downtown in Saturday afternoon's win over Georgia.
Alabama had four players hit multiple threes: Sears, Holloway, Youngblood, Sherrell, and Jarin Stevenson all hit two apiece.
Alabama needs to continue to find ways to get open shot attempts for their three best shooters: Sears, Youngblood, and Holloway. Youngblood and Holloway combined to attempt just three three points against Georgia.
The Bulldogs did a good job face-guarding Alabama's shooters, but Nate Oats is not running enough lineups with all three of them on the floor at the same time.
We saw the game really break open in the second half when Alabama was able to play five out on offense with the lineup of Sears, Holloway, Youngblood, Nelson, and Sherrell. Alabama has played far too many lineups this season with only one shooter on the floor.
Alabama has been one of the most efficient offenses in the country despite poor shooting from deep. If they can continue shooting it well like they have the last two games, good luck stopping this team.