Alabama basketball got their season started on Tuesday night against the Louisiana Tech Bulldogs, and the Crimson Tide looked outstanding. Alabama comes into the season as the 14th ranked team in the nation, the first time they were ranked in the preseason poll since 2011, and they showed why on Tuesday night.
Louisiana Tech is no pushover, they’re a team expected to be towards the top of the C-USA, and Alabama dominated them, really in every aspect. The Crimson Tide beat the Bulldogs 93-64, outrebounded them 51-37, and Alabama was also shooting the ball well, the Tide shot 50% from the field, 39.4% from beyond the arc, and 69.6% from the free-throw line.
In addition to all of that, Alabama was playing pretty solid defense as well, forcing 18 turnovers on nine steals, and two blocks. All that being said, Alabama was very impressive against a very good Louisiana Tech team.
The starting lineup, which was one that could’ve gone a plethora of different ways, was Jahvon Quinerly, Jaden Shackelford, Keon Ellis, Noah Gurley, and Charles Bediako. That was somewhat surprising to me, as I figured JD Davison, the third-ranked point guard in the Class of 2022, likely would have started.
Davison did however receive significant minutes off the bench, as he got 26 minutes of playing time. Nonetheless, Nate Oats has a ton of different options when it comes to picking a starting lineup, this was simply the first we’ve seen, but it certainly won’t be the last.
So with all of that being said, what were some of the biggest takeaways from Alabama’s 93-64 win over Louisiana Tech?