Alabama Feels Like it has Tempo Advantage Vs Saint Mary’s

Cleveland, Ohio. - Alabama and Saint Mary's are on opposite ends of the spectrum regarding pace of play. Alabama is the fastest team in the country, with 75 possessions per game, while Saint Mary's is the 360th-ranked team in tempo, with 61.6 possessions per game.

In their two most recent games, Alabama had 73 possessions against Robert Morris and scored 90 points. Meanwhile, Saint Mary's had 59 possessions and scored 59 points against Vanderbilt.

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With the clash of the two different styles, Alabama's players spoke on the difference between the Crimson Tide and the Gaels on Sunday's round of 32 game.

"It can get really hard [playing slower tempo teams]," Alabama guard Labaron Philon said. "They try to pull the ball out a lot, but based on your pressure, you can really change the impact of the game. If we turn them over tomorrow, I think we're going to be fine."

If we let them slow-pace the game and try to control it, it's going to be a dog fight," Philon continued.

Alabama plays well in transition, being one of the key ways the Crimson Tide has controlled the pace of play this season. Teams have found success slowing down Alabama by making them play in the half-court, so how does Alabama execute to prevent the half-court struggles?

"You've got to do a lot of talking because they're going to get down late in the shot clock," Philon said. "When their guards are getting back, we've got to send our guards and go in to help these bigs. That's something coach has been preaching all day today."

"They're a physical team, they got good size. We just talked about playing fast in transition and trying to move the ball around a lot. Put them in different actions and stuff, trying to find the seals," Alabama forward Mouhamed Dioubate said. "That's the emphasis going into this game."

"We had games like Houston, Texas A&M, Mississippi State, a lot of hard games like that, so we know what we have to bring into this game," Dioubate continued.

"Try to make them play to our pace. Try to get the ball out fast and push the ball out fast with the four seconds to get the ball up," Mark Sears said.

The change in tempo could scare some teams but for Dioubate and Alabama, they think the Tide has the advantage. "It affects our gameplan in a positive way," Dioubate said. "We have the advantage. We're faster, more athletic. It's probably going to affect their game plan, honestly. We have the speed, you know. We play very good in transition, it goes hand in hand. I think we have the advantage when it comes to that."

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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_.