TUSCALOOSA, Ala. — Alabama completed the gauntlet portion of its non-conference schedule with a 5-2 record against seven Power Five opponents. The Crismon Tide defeated Creighton in its latest test, knocking off the Bluejays 83-75 during its first game inside Coleman Coliseum in over a month.
Alabama coach Nate Oats played all 11 of his available scholarship players within the first eight minutes of Saturday's game. The Tide has kept a deep rotation so far this season, even after some unexpected roster changes with Latrell Wrightsell Jr. set to miss the rest of the season with an Achilles injury. Alabama opted to burn Pepperdine transfer Houston Mallette’s redshirt to add depth to its guard rotation.
The Tide has three games left in non-conference play beginning with a road test against North Dakota at 8 p.m. CT on Wednesday on CBS Sports Network. The matchup will not only be a homecoming for forward Grant Nelson but also another opportunity for other members of the roster to earn minutes in a trimmed-down Tide rotation, which Oats intends to have by the time SEC play tips off.
“It’s hard playing 11 guys,” Oats told reporters Tuesday. “We gotta get the rotation trimmed down. I’m not ready to trim it down yet. I thought I’d play three more games where we’re kinda going with 11 guys and have to try and figure out kind of from there.”
Some of Alabama's upcoming roster decisions will be dictated by how fast Mallette and fellow transfer guard Chris Youngblood get up to speed. Youngblood made his debut against Creighton after recovering from a leg injury this offseason. Now that Youngblood’s ankle has healed the next step is getting back in game shape, which is paramount in a system like Alabama’s which operates at a quick tempo and prioritizes constant effort and aggressiveness for 40 minutes.
“Everything’s gotta get in shape,” Oats said. “Your conditioning’s gotta get back up to speed, other parts of your body — your knee, your hips gotta be able to move, it’s all of it. So we’re trying to get him back up to speed. We’ve focused on all this on his ankle, but some of the stuff you can’t work on basketball-wise until his ankle is better and now that his ankle is pretty much better everything else kind has to get into shape. It’s gonna take him a little bit to get back so we’re gonna try and play him some more minutes."
Alabama will have a good problem on its hands as Mallette and Youngblood work their way further into the rotation The luxury of the Tide’s roster means it should be able to fill Wrightsell’s shoes collectively, but how Alabama’s other players perform over the next three games will also help dictate how much they’ll be utilized in filling the hole left by the veteran guard.
The Tide’s break from Power Five opponents will allow Oats to tinker with different lineups and see which ones mesh together best ahead of what is set to be a grueling conference schedule. The SEC has eight teams currently ranking in the Associated Press' top 25. ESPN Bracketologist Joe Lunardi currently has 13 SEC teams seeded in the NCAA Tournament field. Alabama’s ability to separate itself from the pack will come down to how well Oats can implement a trimmed-down rotation that puts the Tide in the best chance to be successful against its outstanding conference competition.
“Shoot, the SEC is the best conference, looks like in college basketball history from some of the stuff I’m reading,” Oats said. “So no easy games, we’ve got three games to get better at a lot of things.”
