After a rather sloppy performance in Friday's night 88-79 victory over Arkansas State, Alabama returned to its roots under head coach Nate Oats in a 72-64 win over McNeese State, a team that made the NCAA Tournament last season.
It wasn't quite the demolition that was Alabama's 110-54 win over UNC-Asheville, but it showed major progression in just two days since the Tide's nine-point victory.
On Friday night, Alabama committed 24 fouls and never had a flow on offense. That was quite a stark contrast to Monday night when the Tide only fouled McNeese 12 times while also playing a confident and intentional brand of offense.
The Crimson Tide's three-point shooting has been abnormal compared to Nate Oats standards through the first two games, with the team attempting just 18 in game one while also shooting 19.4% from deep in game two. Monday night's shooting output, only 32.4% from three, won't blow the world away, but the frequency of attempts was the biggest difference.
Oats talked about the selfishness ball handlers played with on Friday night, but Monday night showed the ability to drive with the awareness to find the open man. The Crimson Tide was hunting three-pointers, and although there is room to grow in making them at a higher clip, the ability to generate great looks is the most influential difference between the game Friday night.
It made sense that guards Mark Sears and Latrell Wrightsell Jr., who both have the most experience in the Oats system, led the way from behind the arc as the two combined for 30 points on eight made three-pointers.
Their leadership and focus on playing that way on offense spurned the increased production of another former transfer.
Forward Grant Nelson played well last season during his first season in Tuscaloosa as he averaged 11.9 points per game but shot just 27.3% from three while also looking scared of shooting from deep. Monday night's performance, 20 points on 6-of-9 shooting, exemplified the step he has taken after a full offseason at Alabama.
If last season's Nelson would've opened the game with a pair of misses from three, it was likely he would be lifeless from behind the arc, but not this year. Instead, Nelson, who received constant reaffirmation from Sears and Wrightsell, responded to missing his first two three-point attempts but knocked down his next two and stayed confident despite his initially cold start.
Alabama held the Red Wolves to 40.3% from the field and 21.4% from deep on Friday night, the overwhelming amount of fouls and free throws overshadowed the defensive performance. Monday night once again displayed growth since that Friday night debacle.
The Cowboys started hot, knocking down six of their first nine shots, which led to a neck-and-neck start to the game, but Alabama clamped down after that, with the Tide holding McNeese under 40% shooting for the rest of the game. After Arkansas State drew 36 free throw attempts, Alabama came into Monday night intent on defending without fouling, and it succeeded as the Cowboys attempted just 11 free throws.
It wasn't an ultra-impressive blowout, but the Tide got back to the basics of its identity as a program: shooting threes and forcing tough twos en route to a victory over one of the country's top mid-major teams.
The Crimson Tide will head north Friday night to take on the defending national championship runner-up in Purdue at 6 p.m. Central Time in the Tide's first matchup against a power conference opponent.
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