TUSCALOOSA,\u00a0Ala.\u00a0\u2013\u00a0The\u00a0Alabama men’s basketball\u00a0team\u00a0won its season opener\u00a0on Tuesday night\u00a0inside Coleman Coliseum, toppling Sam Houston\u00a0by a final score of 96-74.\u00a0The Crimson Tide’s defense swarmed the Bearkats all night, totaling\u00a017 steals and 10 blocks.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Four\u00a0Alabama\u00a0players scored in double figures, led by Drew Fielder<\/a> and London Jemison<\/a>,\u00a0who each dropped 15.\u00a0Jemison finished the game shooting 6-of-7 from the field\u00a0while\u00a0Fielder added six rebounds\u00a0to his stat line.\u00a0Qayden Samuels<\/a> also had an\u00a0all-around\u00a0solid\u00a0performance\u00a0for the Tide, totaling nine points\u00a0to go with\u00a0team\u00a0highs of\u00a0five assists and four steals.\u00a0<\/p>\n Sam Houston\u00a0was led by\u00a0Jacobe Coleman’s 16 points and six boards\u00a0as the sophomore guard cashed in\u00a0on\u00a0four three-pointers.\u00a0<\/p>\n Head Coach Nate Oats<\/a> Postgame Comments\u00a0<\/p>\n “First game, the student section was\u00a0great,\u00a0they\u00a0got\u00a0really loud\u00a0and it was good for our guys to have the students there and hopefully we can have it filled up for the Arkansas State game on Friday.\u00a0That will be a really good game.\u00a0<\/p>\n Sam Houston gave us a good test.\u00a0They ended up beating us on the glass by three, which is a little disappointing.\u00a0We have been emphasizing\u00a0rebounding\u00a0and we are\u00a0still\u00a0not\u00a0very good\u00a0at it right now. A thing we\u00a0did\u00a0well was force\u00a023 turnovers. It was led primarily by Brandon Garrison’s<\/a> pressure on the\u00a0bigs. Brandon’s athleticism, defensive\u00a0intensityand effort led the way for us.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n Our young guys played great.\u00a0Qayden started for us and had four steals. We did not start well from the field, missing our first seven shots from\u00a0three,\u00a0and we were able to turn it up with our defense. We have never played this poorly on offense and still were able to put up 96\u00a0points,\u00a0so the defensive intensity was great tonight. We have been doing\u00a0a great job\u00a0emphasizing defensive playmaking in practice. We had\u00a0si\u00a0six\u00a0guys with two or more\u00a0steals\u00a0tonight,\u00a0so that was working great for us tonight.”\u00a0<\/p>\n Team Stats\u00a0<\/p>\n
First Half\u00a0<\/p>\n
Second Half\u00a0<\/p>\n
Up Next\u00a0<\/p>\n
\n\tAlabama’s 10 blocks, led by Keitenn Bristow’s<\/a> four, are the most swatted shots by the Tide since last year’s meeting against Arizona (15) on Dec. 13, 2025\u00a0
\n\tUA’s 17 steals are the most swipes by an Alabama team since Dec. 12,\u00a02020\u00a0vs. Clemson (17)\u00a0
\n\tNate Oats<\/a>‘\u00a0fast-paced offense was in full swing as the Tide scored 41\u00a0fast break\u00a0points, its most fastbreak points in the Oats era\u00a0
\n\tAlabama\u00a0led wire-to-wire, holding\u00a0the lead for 38:54 of game play\u00a0
\n\tAlabama’s\u00a0bigs\u00a0were dominant inside the paint,\u00a0as\u00a0the Tide\u00a0recorded\u00a048 points inside\u00a0the paint\u00a0compared\u00a0to18 points by Sam Houston\u00a0
\n\tUA’s stifling defense forced 23 turnovers, the most by a Tide defense since forcing 25 in 2012\u00a0
\n\tThe Tide scored 90 or more points in\u00a0each of\u00a0the last\u00a0four season\u00a0openers going back to 2023-24\u00a0
\n\tHead coach Nate Oats<\/a> is now 7-1 in season openers at Alabama\u00a0
<\/p>\n
\n\tAt the first media timeout, the Tide held a 6-2 lead while forcing four Sam Houston turnovers. The Bearkats started the\u00a0game\u00a0by\u00a0missing their first three shot attempts.\u00a0
\n\tAlabama made its first three-pointer of the game at 12:42 and was followed by a breakaway windmill dunk by Jaxson Richardson for his first ever collegiate points.\u00a0
\n\tThe Bearkats called a timeout with 8:47\u00a0remaining\u00a0in the half as Alabama held an 18-10 advantage. The Tide defense held Sam Houston to 3-of-15 shooting from the field while racking up seven blocks and four steals through the first 11 minutes.\u00a0\u00a0
\n\tAlabama went on a 12-2 run to take a 34-18 lead with just under five minutes to go.\u00a0
\n\tThe Crimson Tide went on to take a 40-29 lead at halftime, forcing 11 Sam Houston turnovers. The turnovers\u00a0turned into13 points for Alabama on the other end.\u00a0
\n\tLondon Jemison<\/a> was the only Tide player to reach double digits with 10 points on 4-of-4 shooting from the field.\u00a0
\n\tAlabama finished the half with seven blocks and seven steals which helped the team score 18 fastbreak points.\u00a0
\n\tUA outscored Sam Houston 20-to-6 in the paint.\u00a0\u00a0
<\/p>\n
\n\tAlabama opened the second half on a 16-2 run to take a 56-31 over the Bearkats with 15:57 to go in regulation.\u00a0
\n\tLater on, a fastbreak layup by Drew Fielder<\/a> capped off eight unanswered points for the Tide as Alabama took a 30-point lead, 69-39.\u00a0
\n\tThe three-pointers started to fall for\u00a0UA\u00a0which helped the team build its largest lead of the game at 32 points, 79-47, with just over eight minutes remaining.\u00a0
\n\tSam Houston battled back with some scoring runs, but Alabama managed to\u00a0maintain\u00a0a comfortable advantage, leading 90-61 with 3:39 remaining.\u00a0
\n\tThe Crimson Tide closed out the second half shooting 54 percent (20-of-37) from the field.\u00a0
\n\tThirteen\u00a0of Alabama’s 19 free throw attempts came in the second half.\u00a0
\n\tDrew Fielder<\/a>, Amari Allen<\/a>\u00a0and Qayden Samuels<\/a> led the offense,\u00a0combining for\u00a023 points over the final 20 minutes.\u00a0
<\/p>\n
\n\tAlabama will play Arkansas State\u00a0on Friday, Nov. 6\u00a0
\n\tTipoff is set for 6:30 p.m. CT at Coleman Coliseum\u00a0
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