The No. 20 Alabama basketball team opened up its season with a 75-54 win against the Big South preseason favorite Longwood Lancers. The Lancers are the first of four teams the Crimson Tide will face in the non-conference schedule that is predicted to finish first in its conference.
Alabama has a lot of new faces on the roster this season as coach Nate Oats brought in the highest recruiting class in program history, including two McDonald's High School All-Americans Jaden Bradley and Brandon Miller, along with four-star prospects Noah Clowney and Rylan Griffen. In addition to the four freshmen, Alabama added transfers Mark Sears from Ohio, Dom Welch from St. Bonaventure, and Nick Pringle, the number one JUCO power forward in the country.
The true freshman duo of Brandon Miller and Noah Clowney led the way for the Crimson Tide. Miller led the team with 14 points and 13 rebounds while Clowney finished with nine points and 11 rebounds. Another true freshman, Rylan Griffen, added 14 points off the bench.
Alabama continued to struggle from behind the arc, hitting just three of their 28 three-point attempts.
Although Alabama struggled from behind the three-point line, they found much more success from inside the paint. Alabama’s length and size were too much for Longwood, as the Crimson Tide out rebounded the Lancers by a 67-38 margin and scored 48 of their 75 points in the paint.
Friday, Alabama will face Liberty, the Atlantic Sun Conference’s preseason favorite, another tough test in the Crimson Tide’s tough non-conference schedule.
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