Aden Holloway scored 20 points while Labaron Philon Jr. and Latrell Wrightsell had 19 points apiece as the Alabama Crimson Tide (18-7, 8-4 SEC) cruised to an 89-75 win over South Carolina (11-14, 2-10 SEC) on Saturday at Coleman Coliseum in Tuscaloosa. The win was Alabama’s fourth straight and 11th straight in the series.
After the game, Crimson Tide head coach Nate Oats was pleased with the team’s overall performance and direction.
“Six straight games for us that we have had at least 12 threes, we are starting to shoot the ball like I thought we could. Getting Wrightsell healthy is a big part of that. Holloway and Philon are continuing to shoot the ball well,” said Oats.
Alabama got off to a hot start, hitting 3 threes to take a 13-9 lead at the first media time out. The Crimson Tide continued to push the lead throughout the balance of the first half was ahead 45-32 at intermission.
A stellar second half from USC’s Meechie Johnson, who had 24 of his 26 points in the second refrain, helped the Gamecocks narrow the lead to seven. But it was not enough, as the triumvirate of Wrightsell, Philon Jr. and Holloway each scored double figures in the second half to lead Alabama to its eighth conference victory of the season.
Other contributors for the Crimson Tide included Aiden Sherrell (11), Amari Allen (8), and Jalil Bethea (6). Allen pulled down a team-best 10 boards, while Philon Jr. dished out 6 assists.
While Oats was happy with team’s offensive output, he lamented the team’s defensive effort in allowing one player to go off—a theme that has continued to plague the Tide this season.
“I was not happy with our defense on Meechie Johnson in the second half. He had two points at halftime and ended up with 24 in the second. Multiple guys didn’t play him the way they were supposed to,” Oats said. “We’ve got to get a good defensive intensity about us. We’re still not there yet, so we’ll keep pushing and trying to get better.”
Next up for Alabama is a home game against the Arkansas Razorbacks on Wednesday, with tip-off set for 6 p.m. CST. TG
