Alabama hosted Missouri tonight hoping to wash away the bad taste of Tennessee’s loss, and they got the job done with a 90-64 victory.
Chuck Bediako made his first start of the season, moving Aiden Sherrell into fourth place. It paid off immediately, as Scherer scored five points early in the game to help Alabama open up a small lead. The game remained close for much of the first half, but a 12-2 spurt about six minutes in gave Alabama a 42-29 lead at halftime.
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Labaron Philon was in hot form, scoring 11 points and dishing out five assists. Aden Holloway had four assists but only scored three points. Alabama narrowly won the rebounding battle behind Tyler Bol Bowen’s six points and Bediako’s four. The Tide shot 9-for-23 from beyond the arc, and when this team shoots like this, they’re hard to beat.
Coming out of the locker room, what I saw was the performance of Latrell Wrightsell Jr. The ‘Terley’s were as active as ever on defense, knocking down four field goals from deep in the first 11 minutes of the first half to give the Tide a huge lead. They led by as many as 27 points in the game, shut down Mizzou on defense and scored efficiently on the other end.
Bediako proved to be a special man. When he patrols the paint, the team’s path to the basket is different, and he makes solid contributions on the offensive end. Interior defense has been this team’s most pressing issue, and he solved it. Wrightsell and Philon scored 21 and 18 points respectively, while Scherer and Bediako combined for 30 points.
Alabama needs this game to get back above .500 in conference play and avoid the first three straight home losses of the Oats’ tenure. Next Saturday is going to be a very tough trip to Florida. Hopefully they can get Amari Allen back.
Curly tide.
