Nate Oats was disappointed with Alabama basketball's lack of toughness in its 10-point loss to Gonzaga on Monday night at the Players Era Festival in Las Vegas. He hoped that the team would respond appropriately on Tuesday night against UNLV.
He got his wish.
In a 115-76 win over the Rebels, all the faults that got the Crimson Tide in trouble against Gonzaga were corrected. Alabama fought back on the glass, finishing +20. The starting frontcourt of Aiden Sherrell and Taylor Bol Bowen grabbed 15 rebounds in a combined 33 minutes after getting just 10 in 44 minutes the night before.
The ball wasn't stuck as much, either. Alabama needed a Herculean effort from Labaron Philon to remain competitive with Gonzaga. There was too much standing around by everyone else, and the ball didn't move like it normally does when the Tide's offense is clicking on all cylinders. Against Gonzaga, Alabama had only 13 assists on 31 made baskets. Against UNLV, the Crimson Tide got 20 assists on 36 made field goals.
It was a much more balanced attack. Alabama had six players finish in double-figures, and only needed 13 points in 23 minutes from Philon to cruise to a blowout victory.
It was the type of response that Oats was hoping to see after a disappointing loss the night before.
“We typically play pretty well after a loss around here," Oats said. "I thought guys answered the bell pretty well. I thought Labaron and Holloway both came out moving the ball like we want them to do, got us a bunch of open shots.
..."But the rebounding I was most happy with. We were plus 20 on the glass, plus 4 on the offensive boards. Aiden Sherrell had four O-boards. Aiden led us in rebounding with eight in just under 13 minutes. Taylor Bol Bowen got 7. Williamson got 6. Our frontcourt was significantly better than what it had been."
Alabama dug into their depth against UNLV to keep everyone fresh
Oats knew that in a tournament like this one, where Alabama would be playing three games in three days, depth was going to be a factor.
Alabama was able to flex its muscles against UNLV with impressive depth. The Crimson Tide had 10 healthy scholarship players for this game, with Latrell Wrightsell sitting out the tournament and both Jalil Bethea and Collins Onyejiaka still out. All 10 played at least 12 minutes, and no player played more than 25.
Oats was able to get good rest for the guys who logged a lot of minutes against Gonzaga. Philon went from playing 36 minutes on Monday night to just 23 on Tuesday. Aiden Sherrell played a career-high 30 against Gonzaga and only had to play 13 against UNLV. Sherrell was still highly productive in those 13 minutes and didn't look any worse for wear.
Most encouraging was the performance of freshman London Jemison off the bench. He finished with a career-high 18 points on an efficient 5-of-7 from the floor. He logged good minutes in a short stint against Gonzaga, too, and continued his recent trend of good play that could lead him into a rotational spot as the season wears on.
Oats was able to do what he wanted against UNLV, keeping everyone relatively fresh as Alabama battles Maryland on Wednesday to finish out their stay in Vegas.