If the Oklahoma Sooners were expecting a welcome to SEC Hoops from the Alabama Crimson Tide, they were disappointed. Instead Alabama Basketball administered a beatdown of the Sooners winning 107-79.
Oklahoma came in with a 13-0 record and one of the top freshmen in the SEC. Jeremiah Fears reclassified to join the Sooners this season. He made the right decision to leave the high school level early. Going into Saturday night's game, he was the SEC's sixth-highest scorer at 18.1 points per game. In Oklahoma's win over Michigan, Fears scored 30 points, including hitting the game-winner. Saturday night, except for a made free throw, the Alabama Crimson Tide shut down Fears in the first half. He missed all seven field goal attempts, as Bama rushed out to a 48-29 lead.
Fears and the Oklahoma offense bounced back with 50 second-half points. With the Crimson Tide pouring in 59 second-half points, the Sooners were outclassed in every facet of the game. A 28-point winning margin over an undefeated team is impressive. The most impressive component of the Crimson Tide victory was Alabama almost doubled Oklahoma's rebound total, 51-26. Grant Nelson had 11 boards for the Tide, followed by Chris Youngblood with eight and Cliff Omoruyi with seven. Mark Sears had a double-double, scoring 22 points and dishing out 10 assists.
Nate Oats explained what Alabama has learned about itself, saying "We're capable of being a great defensive team. We got to be better when the score's our way, and we've got to be more consistent, and we're not as good a shooting team as we'd hoped." Oats also said the first half showed how good the Crimson Tide can be when its defensive intensity is focused.
Alabama scored 107 points and did not shoot well from outside the arc. The main three-point deficiency came from Mark Sears, Chris Youngblood, and Jarin Stevenson. The trio combined to go 3-for-15; one make each for a group average of 20%. The team percentage was 31%.
Alabama Crimson Tide Expectations
With the defense Alabama showed it could play Saturday night, only modest improvement is needed outside the arc to contend for an SEC Championship. Alabama was fourth in the SEC play last season, making threes at 35.5%. Chris Youngblood can be expected to regain his long-range touch. At South Florida last season, Youngblood shot 41.6% from three. His current success of 25% will go up and likely provide what Alabama is missing because of Latrell Wrightsell's injury.
A team that struggles from outside the arc, while winning by 28 points is a team that can go a long way in the spring.