Alabama basketball brought the fight to Madison Square Garden on Saturday, knocking off St. John's 103-96 to earn a major early-season victory over a top-five opponent on the road.
While St. John's head coach Rick Pitino wasn't pleased with his team's defensive performance overall, he couldn't help but tip his cap to Nate Oats and Alabama basketball.
"When it comes down to it, they were the better basketball team tonight," Pitino said of Alabama. "We played hard, we fought, it was exciting basketball, but they were better. ...They were the more locked-in team offensively. They do it against everybody, and the only time they lose is when you turn them over more."
Alabama only turned it over seven times. Only one of those seven turnovers came from one of the Tide's three primary ball-handlers: Labaron Philon, Aden Holloway, and Latrell Wrightsell. Turnovers have been a consistent problem for Oats-coached teams. The high tempo typically means Alabama will turn it over more than your typical team anyway, but when it can take care of the ball like it did this afternoon, opposing teams will find a hard time finding a path to victory.
Alabama only shot 31% from three and missed eight free throws. The fact that the Tide still crossed the century mark on the scoreboard speaks to how well they took care of the basketball and a commitment to earning second possessions by grabbing offensive rebounds. Alabama had 14 of those to St. John's 10.
Alabama's dominance in the paint keyed the win
I don't think I would have bought that Alabama could beat St. John's by shooting 31% from three. Not on the road. But the Crimson Tide did a ton of damage in the paint, outscoring the Red Storm 54-40 down low.
St. John's could do little to stop Philon and Holloway from getting to the rim. Alabama's pick-and-roll game, particularly with Taylor Bol Bowen as the roll man, consistently gave Pitino's team fits.
It's another deadly blow to the folks who still like to believe that Oats-coached teams "live and die by the three." They don't. Good three-point shooting tends to lead to blowout wins for the Crimson Tide. But they can, have, and will again win without shooting a high percentage from deep.
The first priority is getting to the rim, something Alabama did over and over again at MSG. Having elite shooters to kick out to is a luxury that the Tide certainly has, but even when the shots aren't falling, they can find a way to pull out wins against elite opponents.