TUSCALOOSA, Ala. — Awoken by a narrow escape earlier in the week, No. 14 Alabama didn’t need to shake itself out of an early slump Friday night. Jahvon Quinerly knocked down a 3 on the opening shot of the game, igniting the Coleman Coliseum crowd as well as a Crimson Tide team looking to prove it can start fast.
Alabama did just that in a 86-59 victory over Oakland, moving to 4-0 on the year, its best start since the 2017-18 season.
"[Starting fast] was definitely something that we talked about coming into the game," Quinerly said. "I felt like this was our most complete game on both ends of the floor. We locked in on scout, and we made sure our matchups didn't really get off like that. Everybody was laser-focused these last two days, and that just went to show how we played tonight."
After falling behind early in its last two games against South Alabama and South Dakota State, Alabama let its competition slop its way into an early deficit Friday night. Oakland (2-2) shot a dismal 26% from the floor in the first half, chucking up a handful of airballs while allowing the Tide to establish control of the game.
Alabama used a 13-2 run to pull ahead by double digits midway through the first period. Outside of Quinerly’s opening 3, the Tide didn’t necessarily set the net on fire early, missing its next three shots from beyond the arc. However, with the way the visitors were laying up bricks, it didn’t take much to build an early lead.
Oakland missed nine straight shots during Alabama’s separating run. After a layup from Jamal Cain briefly stopped the bleeding, the Golden Grizzlies poor shooting resumed as they missed their next four shots from the floor en route to another 1 of 9 shooting spurt.
Meanwhile, Quinerly and Jaden Shackelford began to pour in points for the Tide on the other end. Shackelford led the way with 20 points to go with five rebounds. The junior also became the 53rd Alabama player to record 1,000 career points. Following the game, Alabama head coach Nate Oats said Shackelford also earned the team's Hard Hat Award given to the player with the most blue-collar points.
"He's a hard-working kid," Alabama head coach Nate Oats said of Shackelford. "He's trying to be our leader, trying to play the right way. Shoot, I was happy to see him play this way."
Quinerly scored 19 points. A pair of Alabama freshmen also had productive nights as Charles Bediako had 12 points, five rebounds and three blocks while JD Davison had 10 points, seven rebounds and five assists. The night served as a nice confidence boost for Davison as the five-star point guard recorded a season-low 2 points, two assists and two rebounds against South Alabama in his previous outing against South Alabama.
"Yesterday I practiced hard, and I had one of my best practices," Davison said. "Not just the 10 points, I had seven rebounds and five assists. I just played hard, wasn't thinking about scoring and everything opened up."
Alabama was able to dominate the boards against a lengthy Oakland lineup, winning the rebounding battle, 51-35. The Golden Grizzlies’ zone defense has caused problems for its opponents this season. However, the Tide finished the night 43% from the floor despite shooting just 28% (10 of 36) from deep. Meanwhile, Oakland never got over its poor start, shooting 30% from the floor, including 17% (4 of 23) from beyond the arc.
"I thought that was our most complete game of the year," Oats said. "I've been talking to our team about playing both sides of the ball the entire 40 minutes. I thought we got as close as we have the entire year. I'm really happy with our defensive effort. I thought offensively we didn't really make shots. We didn't shoot it well from 3 and we were still able to put up 86 points on a tough zone."
Cain was the lone bright spot on a forgettable night for the visitors, scoring a game-high 33 points and 10 rebounds.
Alabama will travel to Orlando, Fla. next week to take part in the ESPN Events Invitational. The Tide’s first game in the tournament will be against Iona (4-0) on Wednesday at 4 p.m. CT. Alabama beat the Rick Pitino-coached Gaels 68-55 in the first round of last season’s NCAA Tournament.
Alabama did just that in a 86-59 victory over Oakland, moving to 4-0 on the year, its best start since the 2017-18 season.
"[Starting fast] was definitely something that we talked about coming into the game," Quinerly said. "I felt like this was our most complete game on both ends of the floor. We locked in on scout, and we made sure our matchups didn't really get off like that. Everybody was laser-focused these last two days, and that just went to show how we played tonight."
After falling behind early in its last two games against South Alabama and South Dakota State, Alabama let its competition slop its way into an early deficit Friday night. Oakland (2-2) shot a dismal 26% from the floor in the first half, chucking up a handful of airballs while allowing the Tide to establish control of the game.
Alabama used a 13-2 run to pull ahead by double digits midway through the first period. Outside of Quinerly’s opening 3, the Tide didn’t necessarily set the net on fire early, missing its next three shots from beyond the arc. However, with the way the visitors were laying up bricks, it didn’t take much to build an early lead.
Oakland missed nine straight shots during Alabama’s separating run. After a layup from Jamal Cain briefly stopped the bleeding, the Golden Grizzlies poor shooting resumed as they missed their next four shots from the floor en route to another 1 of 9 shooting spurt.
Meanwhile, Quinerly and Jaden Shackelford began to pour in points for the Tide on the other end. Shackelford led the way with 20 points to go with five rebounds. The junior also became the 53rd Alabama player to record 1,000 career points. Following the game, Alabama head coach Nate Oats said Shackelford also earned the team's Hard Hat Award given to the player with the most blue-collar points.
"He's a hard-working kid," Alabama head coach Nate Oats said of Shackelford. "He's trying to be our leader, trying to play the right way. Shoot, I was happy to see him play this way."
Quinerly scored 19 points. A pair of Alabama freshmen also had productive nights as Charles Bediako had 12 points, five rebounds and three blocks while JD Davison had 10 points, seven rebounds and five assists. The night served as a nice confidence boost for Davison as the five-star point guard recorded a season-low 2 points, two assists and two rebounds against South Alabama in his previous outing against South Alabama.
"Yesterday I practiced hard, and I had one of my best practices," Davison said. "Not just the 10 points, I had seven rebounds and five assists. I just played hard, wasn't thinking about scoring and everything opened up."
Alabama was able to dominate the boards against a lengthy Oakland lineup, winning the rebounding battle, 51-35. The Golden Grizzlies’ zone defense has caused problems for its opponents this season. However, the Tide finished the night 43% from the floor despite shooting just 28% (10 of 36) from deep. Meanwhile, Oakland never got over its poor start, shooting 30% from the floor, including 17% (4 of 23) from beyond the arc.
"I thought that was our most complete game of the year," Oats said. "I've been talking to our team about playing both sides of the ball the entire 40 minutes. I thought we got as close as we have the entire year. I'm really happy with our defensive effort. I thought offensively we didn't really make shots. We didn't shoot it well from 3 and we were still able to put up 86 points on a tough zone."
Cain was the lone bright spot on a forgettable night for the visitors, scoring a game-high 33 points and 10 rebounds.
Alabama will travel to Orlando, Fla. next week to take part in the ESPN Events Invitational. The Tide’s first game in the tournament will be against Iona (4-0) on Wednesday at 4 p.m. CT. Alabama beat the Rick Pitino-coached Gaels 68-55 in the first round of last season’s NCAA Tournament.
