TUSCALOOSA, Ala. — Alabama basketball is still finding its footing under Nate Oats. It turns out the first-year head coach’s fast-paced attack has little effect when his team continues to carelessly fumble the ball away.

The Crimson Tide did that plenty of times early Tuesday night, stumbling to 11 turnovers over the first eight minutes of its game against Furman. However, a hot-shooting performance from freshman guard Jaden Shackelford propelled Alabama to an 81-73 victory, helping the Crimson Tide avoid its second straight loss. Tuesday’s game served as the on-campus round of the Battle 4 Atlantis tournament which will continue later this month in Grand Paradise Island in the Bahamas.

Shackelford recorded a career-high 25 points, five rebounds and three steals off the bench. The sharp-shooting lefty was 7 of 12 from the floor, including 3 of 8 from beyond the arc. Kira Lewis Jr. scored 19 points and added a team-high seven rebounds. Meanwhile, John Petty snapped out of his early-season slump with 16 points on 3 of 6 shooting from range.

"It felt good," Shackelford said of his night. "My teammates were finding me, with me trying to get to my spots. So it's just getting into that flow and just finding the open spots to get my shot off."

One game after committing a season-high 22 turnovers in a 93-79 loss to Rhode Island, Alabama equaled that mark against Furman. The Crimson Tide was able to survive its slow start as the Paladins failed to capitalize on the mistakes by shooting 31 percent from the floor.

"It's a major problem," Oats said of Alabama's turnovers. "We can't turn the ball over one out of every four possessions. I think our turnover percentage tonight was 25 percent. I think it was 23 percent going into the game. We can't beat North Carolina doing this."

Both teams hovered within each other for most of the game. However, Alabama (2-2) was able to pull away late in the second half as Furman (4-1) went ice cold from the floor during a woeful 1 of 10 run.

Furman threatened to make it a close finish as a 3 from Jordan Lyons cut Alabama’s lead to 78-73 with 47 seconds remaining. However, that’s as close as the Paladins would get as Shackelford hit his following two free-throws on the other end before recording a steal to seal the win.

Alabama capitalized in the paint where it outscored Furman 38-16. The Crimson Tide also outrebounded the Paladins 43-34.

Oats picked up his second technical foul in the past two games when he argued a call midway through the second half. The head coach stomped and screamed at the referee, flipping up the tail of his sportscoat in the process. The passionate display ended up spurring on his team to a 20-6 run.

"Basically when he got the technical, we seen that they were trying to push for a little run," Petty said. "So we came together. (Oats) is big on leadership. He wants us to coach each other out there on the court, so we all came together and said, 'Let's lock in, and let's close it out.' That's what we did."

After Alabama took a 34-31 lead into the break, Furman opened the second half on an 11-2 run as a 3 from Lyons gave the Paladins a 42-36 lead with 17:23 to play. However, the Crimson Tide answered right back with a 6-0 run of its own capped off by a layup from Shackelford as the freshman took a defensive rebound end-to-end.

Oats said graduate transfer James "Beetle" Bolden missed the game with a deep bone bruise in his hand that he sustained in the game against Rhode Island.

Alabama will travel to Grand Paradise Island in the Bahamas to take on No. 5 North Carolina on Nov. 27 in the non-campus portion of the Battle 4 Atlantis. The Tar Heels (3-0) are led by freshman point guard Cole Anthony is averaging 27.3 points per game. Anthony, who is projected to be a top-five pick in next year’s NBA draft, is also averaging 7.3 rebounds, 3.3 assists and 2.3 steals.

The winner of the game between Alabama and North Carolina will face the winner of Michigan vs. Iowa State the following day in the winners bracket. The two losers will also play the following day in the losers bracket.

Contact Andrew Bone for all of your real estate needs; buyers, sellers, investors, developers. Property management; BoneHomeTours.com Call 205-531-5577 or click here