Alabama’s Nate Oats produces quality transition offenses as the Crimson Tide scored 47 baskets on an admirable 81 possessions while outscoring St. John’s, 54-40, in the paint. Photo courtesy of Alabama basketball.
Alabama guard Labaron Philon scored seven points in a late 9-0 run to allow the No. 15 Crimson Tide to outlast No. 5 St. John’s, 103-96, at Madison Square Garden on Saturday afternoon.
Alabama’s speed gave them seven of those nine points in 1:15 as the Tide took a 100-88 lead on a layup by Lattrell Wrightsell, Jr., with 1:44 remaining.
Philon led with 25 points, while guard Aden Holloway may have played his best game in a crimson jersey, scoring 21 points on 9-of-18 shooting and posting four assists. Holloway showed excellent leadership and confidence in scoring ten points in the game’s first 10:06 as he hit a three and a jumper to allow the Crimson Tide to retake the lead with each shot.
Alabama coach Nate Oats explained that Philon’s enthusiasm and love for the game allow him to make a difference, game by game, with his clutch shots and finding key scorers in the offensive sets. On Saturday, Philon scored his 25 points on 10-of-17 shooting in 29 minutes.
“Guys love playing with him,” said Oats. “Always been a great teammate. Just now, he’s got to like, lead, and I think he is doing that. He settled us down, talked, and made some big shots. He was pretty good.”
Red Storm center Zuby Ejiofor led all scorers with 27 points, but Alabama held him to only two field goals in the final 17:35.
“Zuby Ejoifor checked in with 27 points and 10 boards, so he did his deal,” said Oats. “I thought we did a pretty good job on the other guys.”
Ejiofor said that the offensive movement early in the game was key for him to find shots and convert baskets.
“I just felt like everything was connecting for me early on,” he said. “The guys found me. It really helped with the coverage they had on me. I just look on here and see four turnovers, so at the end of the day, I have to really improve.”
Alabama scored 19 points off of 12 Red Storm turnovers, and the Tide also managed 19 points off of 14 offensive rebounds.
“They (Alabama) were too quick,” explained St. John’s coach Rick Pitino. “They (SJU players) wanted to play like Alabama, and that’s what we wanted to stay away from. We were quick-shooting a lot and not making them have to play defense. When we flipped it to the other end, we couldn’t guard them off the bounce.”
Oats obviously knew the pressure-packed style of Pitino’s defensive philosophy and was extremely pleased as his team only turned the ball over seven times on the afternoon.
“I thought our guards did an unbelievable job handling the pressure, handling the press,” Oats said. “They are super physical in the half-court.”
Red Storm forward Bryce Hopkins followed Ejiofor with 19 points, scoring 15 in the first half, but found only four shot attempts in the second 20 minutes.
There were 23 lead changes as Alabama posted 81 possessions and St. John’s checked in with 82 in a game that promised scoring and a faster pace.
Feeling Foul: The Red Storm’s physicality allowed them to collect 40 free throw attempts, while the Crimson Tide finished with 22. Ejiofor and Hopkins combined to make 13-of-17 in the first half. The two finished a combined 16-of-23 from the stripe.
“Huge discrepancy,” Oats commented. “We make tough plays. We just have to learn how to do it without fouling, moving forward.”
Bol-ing 300: A perfect bowling score is 300, so Alabama forward Taylor Bol Bowen was close to that type of efficiency with his 17 points and nine rebounds in 28 minutes.
He hit a three from the top of the key with 5:43 remaining, which gave Alabama the lead for good at 89-87.
“If Taylor doesn’t bring it, we have no chance of winning this game, especially with the foul trouble,” said Oats.
The Alabama coach explained the schematic use of Bol Bowen in the game.
“We played him at a small-ball five, and I thought he was great on Ejiofor,” Oats said. “Played him at a four and I thought he was great coming over and challenging shots on the weak side. Sometimes he was at the four on the cross-match on Ejiofor.”
St. John’s in the Fray: The Johnnies trailed, 73-62, with 12:08 to play, but then hit a 19-7 run, and when guard Joson Sanon hit a three, SJU took an 81-80 lead with 8:12 remaining. Ruben Prey and Oziah Sellers scored in that stretch as Prey hit another three with 7:13 remaining to give the Storm an 84-82 lead.
“Anytime you lose, you are disappointed,” noted Pitino. “They were a better basketball team than us today. We could not guard them off the dribble. Very few teams can. They have excellent offensive talent.”