In a homecoming game for Grant Nelson, Alabama basketball got off to a sluggish start and had to fight and claw to be able to hang on to a 97-90 win over North Dakota on Wednesday night in Grand Forks.
The Crimson Tide shockingly trailed 38-35 at halftime as they turned the ball over 13 times and shot just 5-of-18 from three. Alabama went with a new and interesting starting five with only one true guard in Mark Sears being joined by Derrion Reid, Jarin Stevenson, Grant Nelson, and Clifford Omoruyi.
Labaron Philon and Aden Holloway combined for just 16 first-half minutes.
Alabama came out of the locker room and used an early 13-0 run to take the lead and never relinquished it, but still had to overcome a huge game from Treysen Eaglestaff, who hit eight three-pointers and finished with 40 points.
Credit North Dakota as they refused to be bullied and hit a lot of difficult long-range shots that were mostly contested well. It wasn't a banner night for the Tide's defense, but the Fighting Hawks hit some shots that nothing could be done about.
3 takeaways from Alabama basketball's win over North Dakota
3. Celebrate Alabama basketball playing this game
A lot of people were probably confused to see Alabama taking a midweek trip all the way to frigid North Dakota in the middle of December for a non-conference game. But what a moment it was for Grant Nelson, the Devils Lake, North Dakota native, to get one more college basketball game where all of his family and friends could see him live.
From Devils Lake, N.D.‼️ pic.twitter.com/zcK6ZQQAjK
— Alabama Men’s Basketball (@AlabamaMBB) December 19, 2024
Most power conference programs refuse to go on the road and play mid-major opposition, but it's a cool opportunity to travel to smaller venues with a home crowd unused to seeing highly ranked teams in town.
It was a great homecoming for Nelson, who finished with 23 points, 10 rebounds, 2 assists, and 3 blocked shots.
2. Houston Mallette came up huge
Houston Mallette is taking full advantage of his unexpected opportunity to play this season. In just his third game with the Crimson Tide, Mallette made big play after big play down the stretch to help the Crimson Tide eke out a closer than expected win in Grand Forks.
Mallette finished with 10 points and 5 rebounds. Four of those rebounds were of the offensive variety. In one sequence in the second half, Mallette grabbed an offensive rebound, kicked to a team, relocated to the corner, and then buried a three.
Nate Oats mentioned this week the need to trim the rotation from 11 guys. Mallette is ensuring he is going to remain in the rotation with his energy and effort.
1. Nate Oats has to settle on a rotation
I was baffled by Oats' lineup to start this game. Benching Philon, who has enjoyed a terrific freshman season, for Derrion Reid was the impetus for Alabama's sloppy offensive start. With only one ball handler and limited shooting, it's no wonder Alabama managed just 12 total points in the game's first eight minutes.
Five minutes into the game, Alabama went small and had Mo Dioubate as the five with Mallette as the four.
It won't be easy to figure out which players lose minutes. Everyone is good enough to play and everyone expects minutes. The most likely scenario will be that it varies from night-to-night.
There will be nights where Stevenson is needed more than Dioubate, and vice-versa. Aiden Sherrell seems likely to be phased out of the rotation as he has not looked quite ready for this level of basketball.
In terms of the starting five, Philon has to start next to Sears. I think the Stevenson at the three experiment has to end, and either Mallette or Reid needs to start with Nelson and Omoruyi in the frontcourt.
Alabama has two more winnable non-conference games to get things sorted out before the gauntlet of SEC play begins.