Alabama avoided the drama it had against No. 15 seed Robert Morris in its second-round game of the NCAA Tournament. The Crimson Tide cruised to the Sweet 16 with an 80-66 win over No. 7 seed Saint Mary’s.
The Tide came out much stronger on the glass than it did against the Colonials, setting the edge in the most important area of the game against a Saint Mary’s side that played a polar opposite style to its own. Alabama’s rebounding helped set up its offense and it had few problems scoring against one of the best teams in the country. On the other end, Alabama created several scoring droughts for Saint Mary’s and made timely stops to deflate any Gaels’ hope of an upset.
Here are three takeaways from Alabama’s matchup against Saint Mary’s.
After a lackluster game on the glass against Robert Morris, Alabama was much better in the rebounding department Sunday. It was an area Oats labeled as the most important of the game in the buildup.
The Tide won the rebounding battle 41-36. Grant Nelson playing a complete game in his return to the starting lineup was a major boost. He finished X rebounds, setting the edge on the glass and often emerging with the ball over multiple defenders, as Saint Mary’s frequently sends all five players after missed shots.
Starting center Clifford Omoruyi also continued his strong play on the glass. The Rutgers transfer bested his fifth-year teammate Nelson, grabbing 10 boards. Nelson and Omoruyi combined for six of the Tide’s eight offensive rebounds. Alabama turned those into 10 second-chance points
The Gaels got their fair share of O-boards, as is the case for a side ranked No. 2 in the country in offensive rebounding percentage. However, Alabama was able to hold the Gaels to just nine second-chance points from 15 offensive rebounds, and the Tide was better able to limit Saint Mary’s to one shot per possession, which allowed it to run out in transition
Alabama didn’t mess around on the glass, which would have been a dangerous prospect if Saint Mary’s with how it can set the tempo and squeeze a team out of the game. Instead, Alabama began with a 6-3 advantage on the glass in the first four minutes of the game, which allowed it to set the tempo on the offensive end.
The Gaels came into Sunday night’s game ranked No. 7 in adjusted defensive efficiency. But Alabama was able to navigate its way to points with smart offense in the halfcourt. Saint Mary’s gave up 80 points to a team for the first time in 105 games.
Saint Mary’s actually took more shots from the field thanks to an edge on the offensive glass and a slight advantage in the turnover department. But Alabama was much more efficient with its offensive possessions. The Tide made 53% of its looks from the field and shot 41% from 3. Players drove and kicked much better than they did against Robert Morris. Though Alabama racked up 11 turnovers, offset that tally with 15 assists on some excellent ball movement.
The Tide also made use of its depth. For a second straight game, star guard Mark Sears took longer than usual to get going but still finished with 12 points. A few of guard compatriots took the scoring burden away from him. Chris Youngblood finished with 13 points, while Aden Holloway had 12. Neither player was in double figures against Robert Morris.
Alabama pulled from its 3-point well when needed. Otherwise, it was another barrage in the frontcourt. Nelson had 12 points while Omoruyi finished with 10. Both players threw down emphatic dunks off of nice feeds from guards. Mouhamed Diobuate followed up a great outing against Robert Morris with 10 points and five rebounds, making six Alabama players in double figures.
Alabama’s deep rotation also allowed it to negate early foul trouble for Sears. He picked up a pair of fouls by the 13:23 mark of the first half. He sat until the 3:55 mark, and the Tide outscored Saint Mary’s 20-11 in that span.
Oats stressed heading into the game that Alabama wasn’t going to do anything different to try and speed Saint Mary’s up. Aside from deploying one guard to shadow a Saint Mary’s ball handler up the floor after makes, the Tide didn’t do anything major on defense.
Alabama had to recover from a slow start to the second half on the defensive end, but the Gaels’ shotmaking simply never came along enough to match Alabama’s scoring. Saint Mary’s didn’t make its first 3 until the 7:31 mark of the second half. Despite its offensive rebounds and 30 points in the paint, Alabama also blocked seven shots as a team.
Instead of methodical, Saint Mary’s looked isolated. From time to time Nate Oats had to bark an order to “talk” on defense. When Alabama did, it executed guarding ball screens well, with bigs finding the roll man quick enough before a Gaels guard could hit them. The Gaels were held without a field goal for a stretch of over five minutes in the first half.
The few methods of scoring Saint Mary’s generated in the first half came from the free throw line and points off of Alabama giveaways. It scored 19 of its 29 first-half points from those two avenues. Otherwise, Alabama clamped down and grabbed rebounds off misses, which helped limit the Gaels to 0.78 points per possession in the first 20 minutes.
No. 2 seed Alabama will face No. 6 seed BYU on Thursday in Newark, New Jersey. The Cougars defeated No. 3 seed Wisconsin in their second round game.
