The birthday boy balled out and Alabama basketball rolled to an 81-57 victory over Jacksonville State during its season opener Wednesday night in Coleman Coliseum.

Celebrating his 22nd birthday, Jahvon Quinerly led the Crimson Tide with 18 points and three assists on 7 of 12 shooting. The redshirt sophomore point guard carried Alabama through a rusty start as the Tide looked like a team that hadn’t played a competitive game in more than eight months. It had been an even longer layoff for Quinerly who hadn’t played since March 2 of 2019 when he was still with Villanova.

"This is the best birthday in my 22 years of life, for sure," Quinerly said with a smile.

The former five-star recruit saw his eligibility denied by the NCAA last year, forcing him to spend the entire season on the bench. Wednesday, Quinerly gave Alabama fans what they have been waiting for while showing how influential he should be for the Tide moving forward.

"It was an unbelievable feeling," Quinerly said of being back on the court. "I had my family here. I had my little brother in the stands. For them to finally see me play, it's just amazing. Words can't really explain, but an unbelievable feeling."

Despite bringing in a slew of shooters this offseason, Alabama got off to a slow start from deep. The Tide missed its first five 3-pointers before Quinerly knocked down a shot from near the top of the arc. Alabama finished the game 7 of 31 (23 percent) from range.

Alabama’s slow start was offset by an even worse opening by Jacksonville State. The Gamecocks began the game 4 of 23 from the floor while turning the ball over 11 times in the first half.

It didn't get much better for the visitors after the break as Alabama's defense kept the clamps on Jacksonville State, holding it to 19 of 69 (28 percent) shooting while forcing 20 turnovers on the night.

According to head coach Nate Oats, Alabama set a record with 151.5 blue-collar points — the metric the team uses to measure hustle plays. Herbert Jones earned the Hard Hat Award with 35 blue-collar points.

"Shoot, our goal is usually 120, so we hit it out of the park with that stuff with the charges and loose balls and stuff," Oats said. "You saw (Jordan) Bruner get on the floor and tap one up, we got a 3 off it... some of those blue-collar plays really turned into some offensive plays for us tonight."

After extending its lead to 44-26 with 16:17 remaining in the game, Alabama’s offense went cold, allowing Jacksonville State to climb back within 10 points with an 8-0 run. However, Quinerly stepped in with a deep 3 and a layup to ignite a 17-3 run which put the game away.

Alabama had two players with double-doubles as Jaden Shackelford had 18 points and 11 rebounds while Herbert Jones had 12 points and 12 boards. Shackelford’s double-double was the first of his career.

"The double-double feels good man," Shackelford said. "I just try and go out every game and find a way to help my team win. Tonight, getting those rebounds was big for me. I put an emphasis on being a better defender this year because that's the next step I need to take to take my game to the next level."

John Petty Jr. also chipped in 14 points and six rebounds, while James Rojas scored 8 points and pulled in seven rebounds.

Alabama’s first starting lineup of the season consisted of Quinerly, Shackelford, Jones, Petty, and Jordan Bruner. Heading into the game, head coach Nate Oats said that starting five wasn’t necessarily Alabama’s best five and is subject to change moving forward.

Despite playing all 12 of its active scholarship players, the Tide's bench was outscored, 39-15, by Jacksonville’s bench.

Following Wednesday night’s win, Alabama (1-0) will travel to Asheville, N.C. to participate in the Maui Invitational, which was moved from its typical location due to COVID-19. The Tide will open up the tournament against Stanford on Monday at 8:30 p.m. CT.

Stanford went 20-12 (9-9 in the Pac-12) last season, finishing seventh in its conference. The Cardinal started the season 15-2 but dropped off after losing seven of eight games during conference play.

The winner of Alabama versus Stanford will move on to face the winner of North Carolina versus UNLV. The losers of both games will square off against each other on the other side of the bracket.