Alabama Defeats Stillman 102-65 in NIT Opener

The Alabama men’s basketball team won its opening round game of the NIT Tipoff Classic 102-65 over Stillman. Junior guard Levi Randolph led the Crimson Tide with 17 points.

With the victory, Alabama will meet the winner of Monday’s first game, Georgia State, for the right to advance to Madison Square Garden as the NIT South Region champion. Georgia State defeated McNeese State, 96-70, in the first game of the day. The Tide and Panthers will meet at 7 p.m. at Coleman Coliseum.

“I thought we did a really good job in the press and in the zone,” UA head coach Anthony Grant said. “We had a stretch there where they had nine or ten straight possessions without scoring.”

UA scored over 100 points for the first time since Dec. 27, 2005 when the Tide beat Jackson State, 101-66.

Early in the second half, Alabama was up nine before going on a 25-3 run to put them up 77-44 with 11:47 remaining. During that run, the Tide had 10 straight defensive stops and scored on 10 straight possessions.

Alabama had five other players besides Randolph in double figures, including Retin Obasohan, who tied his career high with 15, Nick Jacobs with 13, Trevor Releford with 12, Algie Key with 12, and Carl Engstrom with a career-high 11. This was the first time the Tide has had five or more players in double-figures since Nov. 23, 2011 against Alabama A&M.

The Tide had major help from their bench tonight as they outscored Stillman’s bench 48-21. Alabama also outscored Stillman 58-14 in the paint.

The final day of the NIT Season Tipoff begins Tuesday at 4:30 p.m. when Stillman takes on McNeese State.