High-Level Guard Play Propels Alabama Over St. John’s

Alabama faced an early test on the season, with Nate Oats leading the Crimson Tide to New York City against Rick Pitino and the St. John's Red Storm in Madison Square Garden. Oats and the Tide knew it would be a tough matchup, and the Tide would have to play its best game if it hoped to move to 2-0 on the young season.

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The Crimson Tide walked into Madison Square Garden and dropped 103 points on the vaunted defense that head coach Rick Pitino does an incredible job of preparing for during his tenure with St. John's. No. 15 Alabama improved to 2-0 on the season with a 103-96 victory over No. 5 St. John's.

The Tide rarely trailed in the matchup, leading for 32:05, compared to just 5:20 trailing the Red Storm. Elite guard play led Alabama from a plethora of players, including the team's leading scorer in point guard Labaron Philon, who scored several timely buckets to extend the Tide's lead en route to his 25-point performance (10-17 from the field, 2-5 from three-point range). Aden Holloway was the Tide's second-leading scorer, despite fouling out with four minutes left in the game. Holloway was able to showcase his bag of tricks, despite the three-ball not falling in his favor. He scored 21 points (9-18 from the floor, 2-9 from three-point range).

Foul trouble looked to be an issue this afternoon, with five players incurring three fouls or more, including Holloway's foul out. Alabama head coach Nate Oats played with fire, allowing Holloway to play with four fouls and Philon to play with four fouls. Yet it paid off for the Tide with the win over St. John's.

54 of the Tide's points came in the paint, and 23 came from the bench. Alabama had just seven turnovers in the game compared to St. John's 12, and outrebounded the Red Storm 43-42.

Alabama Stat Leaders

Points - Labaron Philon: 25 points
Rebounds - Amari Allen: 10 rebounds
Assists - Labaron Philon, Latrell Wrightsell Jr.: 3 assists

Alabama Players with Double-Digit Points

Labaron Philon - 25 points
Aden Holloway - 21 points
Taylor Bol Bowen - 17 points
Latrell Wrightsell Jr. - 17 points

Alabama's next game will be back at home inside Coleman Coliseum on November 13, when Alabama hosts No. 1 Purdue.

Wyatt Fulton is the Tide 100.9 DME and Brand Manager, primarily covering Alabama Crimson Tide football and men's basketball. For more Crimson Tide coverage, follow Wyatt on X (Formerly known as Twitter) at @FultonW_.