TUSCALOOSA, Ala. – The No. 22/22 Alabama men’s basketball team claimed its fourth-straight win to open the 2023-24 season with a 98-67 win over the Mercer Bears Friday night inside Coleman Coliseum.

 

The Crimson Tide (4-0) connected on 14 of its first 16 shots from the field and never looked back, leading by as many as 38 points (97-59) before settling for the 31-point victory.

 

Alabama was led by Mark Sears’ 26 points and six assists to help the Tide extend its home winning streak to 19 straight wins, 15 of which have been won by double-digits. In addition to Sears’ output, Nick Pringle (14), Jarin Stevenson (14) and Aaron Estrada (10) also scored double digits.

 

The Bears (1-3) were led by Jalyn McCreary scoring 17 points and collecting eight rebounds.

 

Head Coach Nate Oats Postgame Comments

“I thought it was a good start. We shot 79 percent in the first half, that's pretty good offense. I didn't think we did a great job of playing like we needed to the whole 20 minutes of the second half and sometimes it's hard when you're up (big). We got up by 30 at one point, but we didn't close the game well and we have to start doing a better job of that. We've got some depth I think we've been able to play, it looks like all our scholarship guys are double digit minutes tonight. 

 

“If you look at these next seven games coming up, we've got some tough ones so we need to be ready to go. We’ve got a week off between games and Ohio State is going to be tough. Their guard is much better than what we've been guarding. Our defense could have improved, but I think it was a good first four games for us. Particularly with a new squad I thought the chemistry had been good. We took care of the ball for the most part tonight. Large portion of the game we had no turnovers to a team that was second in country in turnover rate on defense. Lots of good things again, but we got some work to do here next week before we play Ohio State. 

 

TEAM STATS

• As a result of hitting 14 of its first 16 shots from the field, Alabama went on to shoot 79 percent in the first half which is the first time the Tide shot 70 percent or better in a half since Nov. 29, 2019 vs. Southern Miss
• The Tide shot 59 percent (35-59) from the field, 42 percent (8-19) from deep and 69 percent (20-29) from the line
• In comparison, Mercer shot 41 percent (26-64) from the floor, 21 percent (3-14) from beyond-the-arc and 52 percent (12-23) from the stripe
• UA led in virtually all categories including a 26-14 advantage on the fast break and a 44-30 rebounding advantage

 

FIRST HALF

• Alabama started the game converting its first nine shots
• The Crimson Tide only missed six shots (23-29) headed into the locker room
• UA scored on its first 14 possessions to begin the game
• Mark Sears led the Tide with 19 points, five assists and three boards at the break
• Alabama’s defense held Mercer without a field goal over the final 2:51 of the half
• UA shot 79 percent (23-29) from the floor, 75 percent (6-8) from downtown and 67 percent (4-6) from the line

 

SECOND HALF

• Alabama held Mercer without a field goal over the final 2:30
• The Tide scored 19 of its’ 26 fast break points after the break
• Aaron Estrada scored eight of his 10 points in the second half
• Nick Pringle also scored eight of his season-high 14 points in the second stanza

 

UP NEXT

• Alabama heads to Destin, Fla., where it will compete in the Emerald Coast Classic, held at Northwest Florida State College
• The Crimson Tide will open the event Friday, Nov. 24, when it takes on the Ohio State Buckeyes
• Tipoff is slated for 6 p.m. CT and will stream live on FloHoops

 

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