Alabama Drowns Maryland 105-72

The Alabama Crimson Tide took down the Maryland Terrapins on Wednesday night/Thursday by score of 105-72 to improve to 5-2 on the season. Maryland fell to 5-3. The Tide finished 2-1 at Players Era Festival, losing to Gonzaga before beating UNLV and Maryland. Alabama had seven players in double figures and an eighth player that scored nine.

Coach Nate Oats stuck with the starting five of Labaron Philon, Aden Holloway, Houston Mallette, Taylor Bol Bowen, and Aiden Sherrell. For the third straight game the Tide was without Latrell Wrightsell from a lower leg injury. Bama also didn’t have the services of Keitenn Bristow, who was back in a boot, and Jalil Bethea who has yet to suit up this season. In their absence three Alabama freshman, Amari Allen, London Jemison, and Davion Hannah, stepped up playing more minutes and taking advantage of their chances. ‘The Tide started off cooking. Philon scored off the tip, followed by a hoop by Sherrell and two long range threes from Mallette. Holloway drained one from behind the arc and with 17 minutes left Bama led 13-2. Allen and Jemison entered the game and both hit from long range as the Tide offense was running like a well oiled machine. In addition the team was hitting the boards hard and playing stifling defense. At the under 12 timeout Bama led 24-9.

With 6:26 left in the half the Tide was up 39-17. However Maryland went on a 7-0 run to maintain hope. At the under four time out the margin had been cut to 39-24. Hannah drained a three and added a hoop at the rim for. 44-26 lead with two minutes left. Holloway hit his third three pointer of the half and the Tide took a 49-29 in to the locker room.

Alabama shot 16-32 in the first with 9-20 from three point range, the the Tide was also 9-20 from the charity stripe. Bama grabbed 25 rebounds, dished out 13 assists, blocked two shots, had five steals, and committed five turnovers. Holloway scored 11 points, had six assists, and four rebounds to lead the charge. Philon added 11 of his own with three rebounds and three assists. Hannah contributed eight points and three boards, and Mallette had six points in his two early three point shots.

Maryland shot 12-36 for 33%, including just 3-15 from three and made 2-3 free throws. The Terps were held to 16 rebounds, had five assists, three steals, zero blocks, and turned it over six times. Pharrell led Maryland with eight points at the break. The same starting five took the court for the Tide to begin the second half. Bol Bowen scored early and then took an alley-oop pass from Philon for a beautiful dunk and a 53-33 Bama lead with 17:28 left. Maryland came out of the locker room with more energy and focus and tried to hang in the game. However every time the Terps would make a little progress the Tide would squelch the rally and extend their lead.

Holloway’s fourth three of the game with 12:20 left gave Tide a 66-46 lead. Holloway then threw a perfect pass to Hannah for a spectacular dunk right before the under 12 timeout. Out of the timeout Philon took over with some nifty hoops in the lane. Allen starting exerting himself, Sherrell was dominating the boards and seemingly blocking every other shot by the Terrapins. An 11-0 Bama run pushed the lead to 90-57 with five minutes left in the game.

Allen hit a three to make the score 98-59 and a Hannah hoop had the Tide reach the century mark for the second straight night. Walk-on Jacob Martin entered the game for the second game in a row and much to the pleasure of his teammates grabbed a rebound and scored a point on 1 of 2 shots at the free throw line. When the clock ran out Bama had an impressive 105-72 victory.

The Tide shot 22-34 in the half for 65% with 5-11 from deep, and made 7-8 free throws. Overall Bama finished 38-66 for 58%, 14-31 for 45% from deep, and an impressive 15-18 for 83% at the free throw line. Alabama dominated the boards with 49 rebounds with 11 on the offensive end. The team had 29 assists, nine blocks, and seven steals. The Tide committed 12 turnovers. Philon scored 20 points with six assists and four rebounds, but did turn the ball over five times. Holloway had his first career double-double with 17 points and 10 assists. Bol Bowen had 12 points and five rebounds, Hannah went for 12 with four rebounds and two assists. Sherrell had his best game in Crimson with 11 points, nine rebounds, five blocks, one assist and one steal. Jemison added 11 points, four rebounds, two assists and two blocks. Allen stuffed the stat sheet with 10 points, seven rebounds six assists, and a block. Mallette with nine points just missed giving the Tide eight players in double figures.

Maryland improved to 16-40 in the half and 6-12 from deep and 5-8 free throws. Overall the Terps finished 28-76 for 37%, 9-27 from three for 33%, and 7-11 at the line. Maryland grabbed 30 rebounds, had 12 assists, two blocks, six steals, and committed nine turnovers. Darius Adams led the team with 20 points and Pharrell finished with 14.

Very impressive win for the Tide as they were hitting on all cylinders. Offense, defense, rebounding, shooting, passing, everything was working. When Bama plays like that the team is a thing of beauty. Sherrell’s improvement has been a sight for sore eyes. The freshmen trio of Allen, Jemison, and Hannah look to all be coming into their own at the right time. The back court of Philon and Holloway is possibly the best in the country. Throw in Mallette and a healthy Wrightsell and Bethea and they would definitely be the deepest in the country. A healthy Bristow with the emergence of Sherrell and Bol Bowen give the Tide the ability to have a solid front court.