Alabama Takes Down USF 104-93

The 16th ranked Alabama Crimson Tide took down the visiting South Florida Bulls 104-93 on Wednesday in Coleman Coliseum. The Bulls are coached by long time Nate Oats assistant Bryan Hodgson. Alabama improved to 8-3 with the victory while USF fell to 6-5.

Oats tweaked the starting lineup again, beginning with Labaron Philon, Latrell Wrightsell, Houston Mallette, Aiden Sherrell, and for the first time, freshman London Jemison. Jemison’s classmate Amari Allen was held out of the game with an injury. Jemison was injured during the first half and did not return to the game.

Sherrell scored the first bucket of the game and was fouled, but missed the free throw. The Bulls pulled out to a 5-2 lead but Mallette hit a long three pointer to tie the game with 17:40 left in the half. Aden Holloway came off the bench and drilled a triple for a 15-10 Bama lead. Mallette connected from long distance twice more, and Philon over came a slow start to score in the lane, seemingly anytime he wanted to. Sherrell just beat the half time buzzer with a put back and the Tide took a hard faught 44-38 lead into the locker room. Bama had no answer for the Bulls Wes Enis, who made 5-9 three pointers in the half and scored 17 points.

The Tide shot 15-40 for 38% including 5-18 from deep while making 11-14 at the free throw line. Bama totaled 32 rebounds- the same amount they had in the whole game Saturday against Arizona- with 16 on the offensive end-after totaling only three in Saturday’s game. Alabama had seven assists, five blocks, four steals, and turned it over six times. Mallette had the best half of his Tide career with 13 points, seven rebounds, and one steal. Philon totaled 10 points with four assists. Taylor Bol Bowen grabbed six rebounds with four offensively in only seven minutes after being singled out by Oats after Saturday’s loss. Sherell had six points, six rebounds, and three blocked shots.
USF shot 13-34 for 38% with 6-17 from three point range. The Bulls made 7-12 at the charity stripe, totaled 22 rebounds, passed for eight assists, five blocks, four steals, and committed six turnovers. Enis’s 17 points led the way, followed by Josh Omojafo with eight points and four rebounds. Izaiah Nelson had six points and five rebounds before exploding in the second half.

Jemison didn’t come out of the locker room after the half and was replaced by Taylor Bol Bowen to begin the second period. Wrightsell and Philon combined to make three shots from behind the arc early to build a 10 point lead at 59-49 with 15:10 left in the game. Holloway entered the game and heated up from long distance. Holloway’s third long range make of the game gave the Tide a 72-56 lead with 12:20 left in the game. From that point forward the game became an endless march to the free throw line as the zebras blew the whistle on almost every possession on both ends of the court. Bama mixed a few baskets in around the free throws, and was able to break the century mark for the fourth time this season.

The Tide shot 16-29 in the second half with 8-15 from three. Bama also drained 18-21 from the free throw line. After a great first half on the boards, Alabama only had 13 total rebounds in the half. Overall the Tide shot 31-69 for 45%, 13-33 from deep for 39%, had 45 rebounds, 14 assists, seven blocks, 11 steals, and 14 turnovers. Philon tied his career with his third 29 point game of the year and added three rebounds, seven assists, and a block, all while turning the ball over one time. After being shut out on Saturday, Holloway bounced back with 24 points and added four rebounds with three assists and two steals. Mallette had a solid game with 14 points, seven rebounds, one assist, and two steals. Wrightsell contributed 10 points. Bol Bowen finished with nine points, nine rebounds, and two blocks. Six of Bol Bowen’s were offensive, a point of emphasis for Oats. Sherrell scored six points, grabbed seven rebounds, and blocked three shots.

USF shot 15-38 in the second half with 4-13 from deep and 20-22 at the charity stripe. Overall the Bulls finished 28-72 for 39%, 10-30 from deep, and 27-34 at the free throw line. South Florida dominated the second half boards and totaled 46 in the game and dished out 15 assists, blocked six shots, had eight steals, and turned the ball over 15 times. Nelson was a monster down low and finished with 25 points and 12 rebounds, after a quiet first half. The Tide did a much better job on Enis, holding him to three second half points and 20 overall. Omojafo had a double-double with 20 points and 11 rebounds. Joseph Pinion finished with double digits with 11 points

A good bounce back win by the Tide after the second half meltdown against Arizona. South Florida is a tough, well coached team, but this is a game Bama should have easily won. Some of the problems were addressed, especially the rebounding in the first half. Oats said “we did a better job early, but we have to keep it up for 40 minutes” and continued, ““we did a better job on Enis in the second half, but 35 (Nelson) killed us.” Bol Bowen seemed to get the message with his work on both ends of the floor. Philon continues to look like one of the best players in the country. Oats praised Mallette’s penchant for doing whatever is asked of him saying ““Houston is a pleasure to coach.”

Next up is the final former coach on staff game when Antoine Pettway brings his Kennesaw State team back to his home state. However the game will not be played in Tuscaloosa,where Pettway played and coached for so long, but in Huntsville’s Von Braun Center in the ““Rocket City Classic.” The game is Sunday at 1 p.m CT and will be available on SEC Network Plus. The Tide will finish off their out of conference schedule on December 29th with an actual home game aginast Yale at 7 p.m. CT.