Life without Latrell Wrightsell Jr. won’t always be this easy, but Alabama basketball has reason to believe it will continue to roll without its sharp-shooting veteran. The No. 10 Crimson Tide cruised to a 94-79 victory at No. 20 North Carolina on Wednesday night, securing arguably its most impressive win of the season.
No Wrightsell, no problem — at least as long as Alabama’s young guards continue to perform like this.
Freshman Labaron Philon and sophomore Aden Holloway scored 15 points apiece, helping the Tide fill the void of Wrightsell, who ruptured his Achilles last week.
Philon, who signed with Alabama as the No. 40 player in this year’s class, no longer looks like a first-year player. His 15 points came on 7 of 12 shooting and were accompanied by four rebounds and four assists. Philon also had three steals, including takeaways on back-to-back UNC possessions to help Alabama extend its advantage to 52-38 early in the second half.
The Mobile, Alabama native has risen to the occasion in both of his two true road games this season, combining for 33 points, nine rebounds, eight assists, three steals and a block in trips to Purdue and UNC.
“He’s a competitor,” Alabama head coach Nate Oats said after the win over North Carolina. “He’s been practicing really hard. You have to deserve to play well and he deserves to play well. He brings it every day in practice. He’s been bringing it since he walked on the court in June.
“He’s got the ultimate confidence but you can’t just instill confidence in a kid — you have to earn that confidence. You earn it by playing hard in practice, working on your game. I think he’s earned the confidence, he’s earned the playing time, and he’s earned the right to play well. And he steps in these games not scared at all and he brings it on both ends of the floor and he’s played really well in big games for us.”
Holloway tied his career high with five 3-pointers against UNC, hitting 5 of 9 shots from beyond the arc. The Auburn transfer made four of those deep balls before the half, helping the Tide head into the break with a 43-34 lead.
After struggling through and early-season slump from 3, Holloway is 8 of 19 (42.1%) from deep in his last two games against UNC and Oregon. That stroke will be essential to replacing Wrightsell, who was shooting a team-best 42.2% from beyond the arc.
“His shooting was unbelievable,” Oats said of Holloway. “I don’t wanna say this is what we expected — to go 5 of 9 every game, but we’ve seen him shoot it like this in practice for a long time. So we know what he’s capable of shooting the ball.”
There’s still room for improvement from both young guards.
Philon was 0-for-4 from beyond the arc against UNC, while Holloway recorded a team-high five turnovers. Still, Wednesday night offered plenty of optimism for two of the Tide’s most promising talents.
Alabama (7-2) will have 10 days off before returning to the court for its next game against Creighton (6-3) on Dec. 14 at 7:30 p.m. CT inside Coleman Coliseum. That’s plenty of time for Holloway and Philon to build off their recent rise in form.
