TUSCALOOSA | Every time Avery Johnson seems to have the University of Alabama jigsaw puzzle solved, an invisible hand seems to reach down and snatch away a piece.

On Wednesday night, Johnson corrected the problem by using the paint.

The Crimson Tide, short-handed but still larger than visiting Winthrop Eagles, used that size and a strong second half from guards Retin Obasohan and Justin Coleman to take a 72-60 win at Coleman Coliseum. The win was Alabama's fifth consecutive victory and raised UA's overall record to 7-2.

"It was a great team effort from our guys," Johnson said in his post-game interview.

The Crimson Tide played without its No. 2 scorer, junior forward Shannon Hale, who missed the game with what a release from UA Sports Information described as "a medical condition."

Johnson said in his post-game comments that the decision to withhold Hale was made today.

"I think right now I am going to stick with our statement and say 'medical reasons,'" Johnson said, adding that he would give additional information "at the appropriate time." He added that Hale's availability for the Oregon game next Monday was "potentially, but probably not."

The absence of Hale and the injured Dazon Ingram clearly impacted Alabama's offense in the first half, especially with leading scorer Obasohan missing nine minutes of the half with foul trouble. With Alabama using a patchwork lineup, Winthrop took a 27-25 lead with under three minutes to play in the half. But UA closed the half on a 7-0 run to take a 32-27 lead at intermission.

That momentum carried over into the second half as Alabama blew the game open in the first five minutes out of the locker room. The 7-0 run that ended the half continued to grow, finally reaching a 26-4 Alabama run that gave the Crimson Tide a 20-point lead, 51-31, on Coleman's 3-pointer with exactly 14 minutes to play.

Winthrop (6-3) came no closer than 12 points in the remaining minutes.

Coleman finished as Alabama's leading scorer with 18 points. Jimmie Taylor added his third career double-double and his first of the season with 14 points and 11 rebounds. Obasohan had 12 points, 10 in the second half while senior Arthur Edwards added 11.

"The good thing about our team is when one guy goes down, the next guy steps up," Coleman said.

Keon Johnson, Winthrop's 5-7 point guard and the game's leading scorer with 25 points, had 17 points in the first half.

"We hung in pretty well in the first half but in the first 10 minutes of the second half, they scored at will right at the rim," Winthrop coach Pat Kelsey said. "That was their game plan, to take it right in the pipes as we say."

Alabama will be back in action on Monday, playing Oregon in Birmingham.