Alabama Basketball more than doubled up UNC-Asheville on Monday night. The Crimson Tide won 110-54. More impressive than the 110 points was the defensive performance that cloaked the Bulldogs throughout the game. UNC-Asheville's shooting percentage for the game was only 27%.
The athleticism and length of the Crimson Tide is far beyond what it was last season. Some detractors of the Alabama Crimson Tide will claim Alabama ran up the score on a team that was still trying to find its footing after the devastating flooding that occurred in Asheville. The Bulldogs' run-up to the season was significantly reduced and they were completely outclassed from the start on Monday night.
Nate Oats did not run up the score. Alabama just played its game, with no remorse for what UNC-Asheville had been through. The Crimson Tide scored 110 points while taking only 18 three-point shots. The scoring difference was points in the paint and rebounding. Alabama scored 56 paint points to 18 for UNC-Asheville. The Crimson Tide outrebounded the Bulldogs, 55-29.
UNC-Asheville is not a shabby Big South program, The Bulldogs won 22 games last season and 27 games the season before. In their 40-season history, the Bulldogs have made the NCAA Tournament five times.
Alabama Basketball is so good that the Bulldogs were only the first team the Crimson Tide will embarrass this season.
Deep and Talented Alabama Basketball Bench
Nate Oats played 10 guys for 15 minutes or more. Mark Sears, Labaron Philon, and Aden Holloway played the most at 24 minutes each. Freshman big man Aiden Sherrell won the Hard Hat Award. Sherrell had nine rebounds in his 17 minutes of play. Speaking about Sherrell after the game, Nate Oats said, "Aiden Sherrell kept his commitment here even after we got Cliff, Jarin came back, Grant came back. He's convinced this is the right system for him. He's a very unselfish kid who just wants to get better. I couldn't be happier for him."
Nate Oats also complimented the crowd and the defensive efforts of Mark Sears and Aden Holloway. Talking about the Auburn transfer, Holloway, Nate Oats said, "He can really, really be a good defensive guard ... And he's not passing up open threes ... I was really happy with Holloway."
The season did not start well for some SEC teams. No. 19 Texas lost to Ohio State, 80-72; UCF beat No. 13 Texas A&M, 64-61; North Florida beat South Carolina, 74-71; and Memphis beat Missouri, 83-75.
Next up for Alabama is a home game on Friday against Arkansas State. Arkansas State opened the season with a 80-75 win over Akron.