The 3-pointer: Takeaways from No. 10 Alabama’s win over No. 20 UNC
Alabama basketball faced its most challenging road environment since its loss to Purdue inside Mackey Arena last month. The Crimson Tide went into a rowdy Dean E. Smith Center and this time didn’t let a rowdy road environment get to them in a 94-79 win over No. 20 North Carolina on Wednesday.
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The Tide’s blowout road win was fueled by establishing a favorable tempo to take the UNC crowd out of the game and establish a strong offensive presence in the paint for the Crimson Tide. No. 10 Alabama had contributors across the board, including a player making his debut and another returning to his hometown. After falling to Oregon in the championship game of the Players Era Festival on Saturday the Tide’s defense stepped up on the road to seal its first true road win of the season.
Here are three takeaways from Alabama’s win over North Carolina.
Free-flowing first half
Only nine free throws were attempted in the opening period between two of college basketball’s elite programs. That led to an open-ended first half that favored Alabama despite some struggles on the glass and defensively.
Alabama didn’t start the game as sloppy as it did against Oregon and Rutgers in the Players Era Festival, which helped it set the tempo and get a foothold in the game on the road. The Tide only had two turnovers before the under-8-minute timeout, building its lead to 13 points.
The Tide did struggle with a few giveaways in the middle position of the half, coughing the ball up five more times as North Carolina went on a 10-2 run. The Tar Heels kept themselves in the game by taking advantage of some lackluster Alabama transition defense. UNC had 14 fastbreak points in the opening period and grabbed eight offensive rebounds. The Tar Heels bested Alabama on the glass for the game 41-39.
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Still, the pace continued working to the Tide’s advantage. Alabama was able to get open looks in transition and went 8 of 15 on layup attempts, getting easy looks against a North Carolina defensive interior that was desperately missing former star center Armando Bacot. Alabama continued to get easy looks at the rim and 14 of 23 on layups along with six dunks. Clifford Omoruyi had 11 points and five rebounds. Grant Nelson didn’t have the same impact against UNC that he did when the two teams met in the Sweet 16 of last year’s NCAA Tournament, but still had a near-double-double performance with 10 points and nine boards.
The Tide’s easy access to the paint also allowed it to hit shooters on the perimeter after getting a paint touch. Aden Holloway was the main beneficiary of the quick tempo, leading all scores at halftime with 12 points on four made 3s. He finished with 15 after drilling another triple in the second half. Mark Sears was also back to his usual sharpshooting self, finishing 20 points and seven assists.
Defense travels
Aside from the Tar Heels’ 10-2 run in the first half, they were largely stifled by a strong defensive performance by Alabama on the road.
Alabama turned North Carolina over 13 times, including a pair of giveaways in the opening minutes of the second half that helped the Tide go on a quick 9-0 run that it never looked back from. The Tar Heels struggled in half-court sets when Alabama set up its defense. UNC shot 40.5% from the field and made just four 3-pointers.
After giving up 14 fastbreak points in the second half, Alabama played better transition defense surrendering just four while continuing to limit the Tar Heels scoring. Outside of star guard RJ Davis’ 18 points and freshman Ian Jackson’s 20, no player scored more than 12, including Elliot Cadeau, who was averaging 14.4 points per game but had just a solitary point Saturday.
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Though turnovers remained an issue on Alabama’s own offensive end, the Crimson Tide’s hounding of North Carolina defensively allowed it to cruise to a road win. Freshman guard Labaron Philon was an engine on defense, finishing with three steals along with a strong offensive stat line of 15 points, four assists and three steals. Sears also chipped in defensively with a pair of steals.
Houston Hoops & home cooking
With one veteran guard Latrell Wrightsell Jr. out for the season, Alabama went to its bullpen, burning Pepperdine transfer Houston Mallette’s redshirt against North Carolina. Oats told reporters Tuesday that the prospect was being considered, but made it official when Mallette checked into the game
Mallette didn’t take long to prove why Alabama recruited him in the first place, and why Oats felt comfortable burning his redshirt. In four first-half minutes, Mallette drilled a 3 and grabbed two steals and a rebound.
Though Mallette didn’t play the same amount of minutes as Wrightsell would on a typical night — which makes sense for Mallette who is a month behind his teammates in terms of game time — the veteran guard had a strong first performance. He was active on both ends of the floor and played with great energy, finishing the night with six points, three rebounds and two steals. Mallette showed that he can be leaned on against the best competition and in harsh road environments, something that bodes well for the Tide being able to fill the void left by Wrightsell.
Along with Mallette and Holloway’s contributions off the bench, Jarin Stevenson also chipped in with six points on two made 3s. Stevenson seemed comfortable inside the Dean E. Smith Center, which is fitting given the sophomore grew up in Chapel Hill and his mother played for the Tar Heels. Stevenson didn’t wilt in a familiar environment and has found his shooting stroke. In the last three games, Stevenson is 7 of 11 from 3-point range.
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Final stats
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Alabama will return to Coleman Coliseum for the first time in over a month. The Tide has one more Power Five non-conference test when it faces No. 21 Creighton at 7:30 p.m. CT on December 14. The game will be broadcast on SEC Network.
The Philadelphia 76ers selected Alabama guard Labaron Philon Jr. with the 22nd overall pick of the 2026 NBA draft Tuesday night.
Philon is the first pick of the Mike Gansey era after he replaced Daryl Morey as the team’s president of basketball operations.
Who is Labaron Philon Jr.?
Philon, 20, led the Crimson Tide in scoring last season, averaging 22.0 points on nearly 40% shooting on 3-pointers. He was the focal point of one of the nation’s most potent offenses, as Alabama led the country in points per game in the 2025-26 season. The Crimson Tide (No. 16) finished the season with a 25-10 record and went 13-5 against conference opponents.
Philon, who helped lead Alabama to the Sweet 16 in the NCAA tournament, earned Third-Team All-American and First-Team All-SEC honors in his sophomore season.
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In 33 games last season for Alabama, Philon scored 725 total points, which is ranked third-most by a player in a single season in program history.
NBA commissioner Adam Silver shakes hands with Labaron Philon Jr. after he is drafted twenty-second overall by the Philadelphia 76ers during Round One of the 2026 NBA Draft at Barclays Center on June 23, 2026 in New York City.
Arturo Holmes / Getty Images
Philon was the 34th-ranked basketball recruit in the country entering his freshman season at Alabama, according to 247sports. The four-star guard initially committed to playing at Auburn, but decommitted. He then signed a letter of intent to play at Kansas, but didn’t play there, either. He then committed to the Crimson Tide in April 2024.
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Philon impressed as a freshman at Alabama and averaged 10.6 points in 37 games. He declared for the 2025 NBA draft but then withdrew and returned for his sophomore season, where he saw his scoring average jump more than 10 points.
Philon is a Mobile, Alabama, native and played at Baker High School in Mobile County, where he scored 2,334 points in three seasons. He was named the Class 7A Player of the Year twice.
As a junior, he averaged 35 points, 6.2 rebounds and 3.9 assists and was named Alabama Mr. Basketball, which is given to the best high school boys’ basketball player in the state. Philon transferred to Link Academy, a boarding school in Missouri, for his senior year of high school.
Philon now joins a backcourt headlined by Tyrese Maxey and VJ Edgecombe heading into the 2026-27 season. Quentin Grimes could return to Philadelphia next season and add even more depth, but he’s an unrestricted free agent.
The pick the Sixers used to pick Philon was acquired in the deal that sent Jared McCain to the Oklahoma City Thunder at the trade deadline.
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Labaron Philon Jr. scouting report
CBS Sports had Philon ranked as the 14th-best prospect in the 2026 NBA draft.
Here are his strengths and weaknesses, according to CBS Sports:
Strengths
On-ball creator who made an extreme leap as a sophomore, ranking in the 99th percentile in isolations (was 24th percentile as a freshman) and 94th as a pick-and-roll handler (was 32nd percentile as a freshman). Combines smooth attack with sudden change of speed and direction, dexterity, and finishing craft in the lane.
Shot-maker who can make tough shots off both the catch (36% on contested catch-and-shoot 3-pointers), dribble (38% from deep), and has extreme gravity when he’s spacing the floor (46% on unguarded catch-and-shoot 3-pointers).
Shown pliability to thrive in different roles over the years and is a similarly versatile creator, because he’s a scoring threat at multiple levels and also an accurate, and somewhat creative, passer with both hands off the dribble.
Weaknesses
Inconsistent defensive approach. Showed more engagement and potential as a freshman, but couldn’t maintain that as a sophomore when taking on a bigger offensive role.
Lacks overwhelming physicality or highest level explosiveness, and didn’t add any notable muscle mass between his freshman and sophomore seasons (175 pounds at 2025 combine and 176 at 2026 combine).
Unclear how well his creation scales to the NBA level when he will have less usage and volume coupled by more physicality in opposing defenders.
Alabama football hosted a hometown kid for an official visit last weekend when it got Jeremiah Beverley on campus for an official visit.
Beverley attends Hillcrest High School in Tuscaloosa, Alabama, and ESPN currently has him rated as a four-star recruit. He is considering Alabama, Cincinnati, Wake Forest and others.
The Crimson Tide offered Beverley earlier this month and got him on campus for an official visit last weekend. The Alabama target told Touchdown Alabama he used the visit to learn what the Tide has planned for him if he commits.
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“I’m truly happy that I went on that official visit,” Beverley said. “Blessed for that. All I was talking about was the next step, what I got to do? So, just knowing what they have planned for me, knowing what they have set for me.”
At 6-foot-2 and 235 pounds, Beverley makes plays for Hillcrest-Tuscaloosa as a defensive end. Alabama has plans to use him similarly at the next level.
“They’re going to have me at wolf mostly,” Beverley said. “I know coach (Kane) Wommack and coach (Christian) Robinson, I think they see me at other positions, but I know it is guaranteed they’re going to see me at Wolf and me working my way up on special teams, and they expect that out of me.”
Beverley is expected to announce a commitment decision on Friday.
Watch Jeremiah Beverley’s Highlights Below:
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Justin Smith is the Managing Editor and Lead Writer for Touchdown Alabama Magazine with over 10 years of writing experience & expertise. Smith has consistently delivered high quality, extensively researched information on the University of Alabama’s Crimson Tide football team that fans can trust. Smith is official credentialed media with the University of Alabama under Touchdown Alabama Magazine. He is also the Director of Recruiting for Touchdown Enterprises, specializing in scouting and analyzing high school recruits around the nation, specifically focusing on recruits within the state of Alabama.
Alabama football is hiring Noah Fisher to be its assistant tight ends coach, according to CBS Sports’ Matt Zenitz.
Fisher spent two seasons as a graduate assistant working with the offensive line and tight ends at Louisville before joining the Tide’s staff. He played three years on the offensive line at South Alabama and spent one season with Tulane. The Jaguars started Fisher along its offensive line when he was a player for multiple games.
The Crimson Tide appear to want to use their tight ends in multiple ways in the future including as extra blockers along the line of scrimmage. Fisher looks as if he can assist the Tide with this mission.
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Justin Smith is the Managing Editor and Lead Writer for Touchdown Alabama Magazine with over 10 years of writing experience & expertise. Smith has consistently delivered high quality, extensively researched information on the University of Alabama’s Crimson Tide football team that fans can trust. Smith is official credentialed media with the University of Alabama under Touchdown Alabama Magazine. He is also the Director of Recruiting for Touchdown Enterprises, specializing in scouting and analyzing high school recruits around the nation, specifically focusing on recruits within the state of Alabama.
