No. 4 seed Alabama defeated No. 13 seed Hofstra 90-70 despite missing its second-leading scorer.
Hofstra made things difficult early on for the Crimson Tide, jumping out to a 10-point lead midway through the first half. Alabama battled through the early punches and eventually delivered the knockout blow to the underdog to punch its ticket into the next round.
Here are a few takeaways from the game.
- Shaky Start
Alabama came out of the gate a step slow, and Hofstra came out hot to make the game very interesting in the first half. Offense was hard to come by for the Crimson Tide as they struggled to get good looks, and the three-pointers were not falling. Midway through the first half, Hofstra built a 10-point lead, but Alabama stayed persistent and battled back to take a 37-35 lead into the locker room.
- Big Game for the Big Man
The play of Aiden Sherrell will be key in the success that Alabama will have in this tournament. On Friday, he did a little bit of everything, and the Crimson Tide rolled. Sherrell finished with a double-double, scoring 15 points and pulling down a game-high 15 rebounds. On the defensive end, the big man added two blocked shots to his stat line.
- Paint Points
Three-pointers were not falling for Alabama early on, so the Crimson Tide had to make their living down inside the lane. Alabama had no problems getting points on the inside against a smaller Hofstra squad. The Crimson Tide scored 38 points in the paint while outrebounding the competition 46-34.
- Philon Takes Over
With second-leading scorer Aden Holloway away from the team due to a recent suspension, the offensive burden fell squarely on the shoulders of Labaron Philon. As he has done in many games this year, he responded and put the team on his shoulders. Alabama’s leading scorer was held to just eight points in the first half. Philon exploded in the second half, scoring 21 of his game-high 29 points. The talented guard was also a great facilitator of the ball, recording a game-high in assists as well, with seven.
No. 4 seed Alabama will face the No. 5 seed Texas Tech on Sunday in the Round of 32.
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