Alabama came into the first round heavily favored against 13-seed Hofstra and won going away, by a score of 90-70.
Things started out great for the Tide, as they jumped out to a 8-2 lead in the first couple of minutes. Unfortunately, the dumb basketball that we’ve seen from this team at times showed up, and at the nine minute mark Hofstra led 28-18 on the back of a 16-2 run of their own. Three point shooting was the main driver, as Alabama kept launching and missing while Hofstra made five of their first nine.
For good measure, the Pride also won the rebounding battle early in the game.
Latrell Wrightsell Jr. finally broke the ice for Alabama with a three at the 8-minute mark to pull the Tide back within seven at the media break. That shot started a 19-7 spurt to close out the half with Alabama in front by two at 39-37. Aiden Sherrell had some rough spots in the half but closed out strong to lead the way with 12 points and eight rebounds. Labaron Philon struggled some as well but added eight points, and Taylor Bol Bowen added eight of his own. The first half was played at a fast pace that favored Alabama, they just struggled to put the ball into the basket.
Amari Allen was basically invisible in the opening half, but started off the second with a put-back to kick off a 12-4 run. Hofstra coach Speedy Claxton called timeout at the 16:20 mark with Alabama up 49-39 and looking to put the upstarts away. Philon took over on offense from there, scoring six points as the two teams traded blows into the 12 minute media timeout with Alabama up 59-48. For all the attention given to Cruz Davis, it was freshman guard Preston Edmead who kept Hofstra in the game with some hot shooting.
A Wrightsell three briefly put Alabama up 13 at the 11-minute mark, but Edmead answered yet again with two consecutive threes to get back within seven, then five after a Philon “turnover,” that should have been called a kicked ball, led to an easy runout. Philon made up for it with a second-chance three on the next possession for a 67-59 advantage headed into the 8-minute break.
The Tide managed to maintain that 8-point advantage headed into the final media break of the game, then flexed some muscle from there. Philon tossed in a three with 3:30 to play, followed by a Wrightsell drive to push the lead back out to 13. Hofstra center Victory Onuetu then lost his mind by assaulting Taylor Bol Bowen during a jump ball. It was Onuetu’s fifth foul of the game and the ensuing points off of the infraction put the Pride to bed.
This Alabama team is likely going to go as far as Philon and Sherrell can take them, and on this day they were more than enough. Philon filled up the sheet with 29 points, eight rebounds, seven assists, and three steals. He did commit five turnovers that will need to be cleaned up going forward. Sherrell had 15 points with a matching 15 boards and two blocked shots. Bol Bowen proved capable at the power forward spot with 15 points of his own and three blocked shots.
Alabama’s defense was quite impressive, especially on leading scorer Davis. Edmead was on fire from three, knocking in six of 12 for most of his 24 points and he was the sole reason that this game was competitive for as long as it was. Next up is a difficult matchup with 5-seed Texas Tech.
Roll Tide.
