TUSCALOOSA, Ala. — It was far from perfection on a sleepy Sunday afternoon three days before Christmas, but No. 6 Alabama had a much easier go of it in its 81-54 win over Kent State on Sunday than it did during its nervy 97-90 win on the road at North Dakota last week.

Turnovers continue to haunt Alabama, but the Tide’s depth and versatile scoring was able to overcome Kent State’s disciplined defense. The Tide also defended its basket well for 40 minutes to prevent any member of the Golden Flashes from making the same impact as Treysen Eaglestaff did when he dropped 40 points against the Tide in Grand Forks, North Dakota.

Here are three takeaways from Alabama’s win over Kent State.

Alabama’s starting five once again got off to a slow start Sunday. The Tide began the game 0 of 7 from the field, which triggered a line change from coach Nate Oats at the under-16 timeout.

Alabama went small, with a lineup of Chris Youngblood, Aden Holloway, Houston Mallette, Derrion Reid and Mouhamed Dioubate. Against a smaller Kent State team — the Golden Flashes don’t have a player taller than 6-foot-9 — the group found some life on the offensive end. Alabama went on a 7-2 run without a turnover to create an ultimately insurmountable lead from there.

Alabama woke up from there, extending the small ball lineup’s momentum with a 15-2 run. Kent State’s stubborn defense started leaking points and Alabama’s previously stifled starters were able to get going.

After a frozen start from the field, Alabama’s depth got things going and kickstarted the Tide’s run to an easy win. 33 of Alabama’s 81 points Saturday came from the group’s reserves. Aden Holloway was second on the team with 13 points, while he and Youngblood combined for five of Alabama’s nine made 3s Sunday.

Alabama continued to come up empty on shots from beyond the arc and leaned into its inside scoring as a response. The Tide scored 34 points in the paint and pummeled the smaller Kent State players on the offensive glass turning 20 offensive rebounds into 22 second-chance points.

While it took a bit of time to find its footing offensively, Alabama continued to guard its basket effectively. During Alabama’s 15-2 run, Kent State went 1 of 11 from the field before coach Rob Senderoff called timeout.

Kent State didn’t hit its next field goal until the 8:45 mark of the first half. Any look the Golden Flashes got was at least slightly contested as Alabama rotated well on defense. A player would provide help if their teammate bit on a pump fake. When Kent State drove to the rim and kicked outside for a 3, Alabama was quick to get a hand up on the shot. The Tide totaled six blocks as a team with Grant Nelson and Dioubate responsible for two apiece.

The Golden Flashes made just one 3 in the first half and finished the game shooting 19 of 71 from the field. Kent State coughed the ball up 11 times, which Alabama converted into seven points. Its domination on the offensive glass carried over to the defensive end. Alabama set a new season-high with 58 rebounds. Missed shots gave Kent State some extra opportunities, but the Tide's defense limited the Golden Flashes to 10 second-chance points despite 14 offensive boards. Alabama's defense also held Kent State to just seven points off turnovers despite a hefty amount of giveaways on offense.

Alabama also did a good job defending without fouling for much of the game. After picking up four fouls in the first five minutes of the second half the Tide didn’t commit another foul until the 7:57 mark and didn't put Kent State in the bonus in the second half.

It was far from utter domination on the offensive end from Alabama. Though it was able to find its footing after a slow start, the Tide still looked like it was asleep at times

The Tide went on a few more scoring droughts as the game went on and committed 13 first-half turnovers, surpassing its season average in the first half for a second straight game. Alabama finished with 19 turnovers, one off its season high of 20, which came against Rutgers in the Players Era tournament.

Many of the giveaways weren’t forced by Kent State’s defense but instead were lazy passes or inforced giveaways on the offensive end for Alabama. Aden Holloway fired a ball at the ref intending to hit Clifford Omoruyi as they crossed halfcourt. Jarin Stevenson in-bounded the ball straight to a defender after he didn’t see him creeping behind Mark Sears in the backcourt.

Alabama hasn't finished a game with under 10 turnovers since it had seven in its 100-87 win over Illinois last month. The Tide has been dominant in other areas, particularly defensive rebounding, and has managed to find enough scoring to negate its giveaways. But against better competition in the SEC, Alabama has to clean up its sloppy play to prevent turnovers from being more critical against better competition.

Alabama will play its final non-conference game against South Dakota State at 2 p.m. Dec. 29 inside Coleman Coliseum. The game will be broadcast on SEC Network+.