TUSCALOOSA, Ala. — Nate Oats told his team that he wanted them to set the tone for the rest of the season by dominating its first Southeastern Conference games. No. 5 Alabama accomplished that mission in its first home matchup, rolling No. 12 Oklahoma 107-79 Saturday.
The Crimson Tide’s blowout victory not only showcased its elite talent and deep roster but also the team’s improvement in confidence and unselfishness playing as a unit. The Tide shared the wealth all game, which allowed it to bully Oklahoma on the glass, create second-chance opportunities, run out in transition and rack up 20 assists as a team to just nine turnovers.
The best representation of the Tide’s unselfishness Saturday came from its star player. Fifth-year guard Mark Sears led the Tide in scoring with 22 points but was far more proud of setting up his teammates. He ended the game with a double-double that included a career-high 10 assists, which demonstrated growth that Oats thinks will be critical for his side going forward.
“You could see his energy when his teammates were scoring, which is great,” Oats said. “We need that out of him. He was more excited about getting 10 assists — I mean, I think you saw when he hit [Aden] Holloway for one 3, that was his ninth and he was all fired up. Then he got Jarin [Stevenson] on the roll for his 10th. I was happy to see that. We talk about Mudita — vicarious joy through others’ success. Mark was really happy for his teammates scoring, particularly off his passes tonight, but thought it was good.”
For Oats, Saturday’s win can serve as a launchpad for a team with plenty of newcomers still figuring out how to play with one another. Alabama has been hit with the injury bug and had to readjust after Latrell Wrightsell Jr. was knocked out for the season with an Achilles tear. Other players like Chris Youngblood and Houston Mallette have had to get up to speed after missing the beginning of the season.
“We’ve kind of figured ourselves some,” Oats said. “I still think there’s a lot of chemistry that has to be figured out because some of these guys haven’t played that much together. So we’re still figuring some of our chemistry stuff out but I think our offensive rebounding and our ability to get to the free throw line has been big for this team.”
Youngblood in particular has demonstrated the kind of unselfishness required for a player who is still finding his confidence this season. The South Florida transfer is still working his way back to full fitness and finding his rhythm shooting after a leg injury kept him sidelined until mid-December.
Alabama has big expectations for what Youngblood can do when he’s 100%, but he hasn’t let his injury prevent him from contributing in other ways right away while his shot isn’t falling. In 20 minutes against the Sooners, Youngblood finished with nine points and eight rebounds, including a team-leading four offensive boards and had a plus-17 box plus-minus rating.
“Chris is the ultimate competitor,” Oats said. “He hates losing at anything. He’s gonna talk, be aggressive. He’s gonna try to be physical. He had a couple fouls where maybe he was trying to do some stuff like that. He’s gotta be a little bit better with that, but he’s gonna get to the O Boards. He’s gonna try to use his strength. He’s a strong kid. He’s strong and competitive so he’s gonna make plays like that.”
Performances like Sears’ and Youngblood’s and others helped Alabama get off to the strong start Oats was looking for in its first home conference game. Now, the Tide will look to accomplish step two in Oats’ plan of early league domination turning into a trophy in March.
Alabama will head on the road to face South Carolina on Wednesday. The Gamecocks haven’t had the best season by the SEC’s high standards, but Oats knows Alabama will have to play with the same kind of togetherness and unselfishness, to pick up a win on the road.
The Tide’s first SEC victory should serve as a massive confidence boost and a roadmap to future victories in conference play. The next step is displaying the dominance it showed for most of the game against Oklahoma on both ends of the court for an entire game.
“I thought the first 20 minutes was exactly what we needed to see out of these guys on a nightly basis. I thought we came out with the right mindset. I thought our walkthrough was sharp. Our trainer told me that the guys were really locked in as soon as they got here in the morning. It was a great day of prep. I thought it was good preparation coming in. We had some really good practices and got a week off. It’s what we need.”
“Now can we do it consistently and honestly, can we do it for 40 minutes? We didn’t do it for 40 tonight we did it for maybe 20 or 30. We got up 28 on them with I think 12-something to go in the second half is what they had. To be up 28 with 13 minutes to go in the half and then finish at 28, they played us even for the last 13 minutes which is a little disappointing. But I think for the first 27 minutes of that game we had the edge we needed.”
Alabama will face South Carolina at 6 p.m. CT Wednesday inside Colonial Life Arena. The game will be broadcast on SEC Network.
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