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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.