TUSCALOOSA, Ala. — No. 5 Alabama basketball made sure its opponent wouldn’t have a warm welcome to the SEC in its first game. The Crimson Tide overwhelmed the No. 12 Oklahoma early and cruised to a 107-79 win to start SEC play.

Alabama executed its game plan on the offensive end, dominating the Sooners in the paint thanks to great play from top to bottom by its forwards. Alabama clamped Oklahoma star guard Jeremiah Fears and ran a smooth and connected offense that limited mistakes and dominated against Oklahoma’s weak interior defense to start out SEC play strong.

Here are three takeaways from Alabama’s matchup against Oklahoma.

It was clear Alabama would not be getting the 55 3-point attempts it got against South Dakota State. Oklahoma makes a point to run teams off the line and prevent open looks. Opponents were shooting just 27.1% from deep against the Sooners, the sixth-lowest mark in the country.

However, Alabama had an excellent game plan to counter the Sooners' strong perimeter defense. The Tide attacked the paint relentlessly — was a strategy coach Nate Oats hinted at when speaking about attacking the Sooners offensively.

The points in the lane came in droves for Alabama. The Tide scored 24 of its 48 first-half points in the paint and finished with 56. Alabama’s ball movement and actions between guards and bigs overwhelmed the Sooners' drop coverage and the Tide was able to get the ball to the lane in transition without committing turnovers. Maybe the easiest points of the night came in the first half when Grant Nelson raced down the floor and threw a lob to a wide-open Clifford Omoruyi.

Alabama is never going to abandon the 3 completely. Before the game, Oats preached that the Tide would have to take care of the ball and move it well to create open looks. Alabama heeded Oats’ message and played unselfish offense and connected on nine 3s to pair with its relentless pursuit of buckets inside. Labaron Philon was responsible for a pair of those makes, a promising sign as the freshman continues to work on his 3-point shooting. Philon finished the game with 16 points and five assists.

Alabama also finished the game with just nine turnovers, which meant it was able to execute its offense by limiting careless mistakes that plagued it throughout non-conference play. Overall, the Tide's offense, which has been one of the best in the country at scoring inside, leaned into that dominance Saturday to secure its first SEC win. Mark Sears epitomized that dominance by leading Alabama with 22 points despite going 1 of 6 from 3. Sears finished the game with a double-double by adding 10 assists.

Along with its paint scoring Alabama’s domination on the glass also helped it seal a blowout victory Saturday. All of the Tide forwards contributed positively to Alabama’s win to ensure the Sooners wouldn’t have anything easy inside offensively and help execute the Tide’s game plan to create paint touches.

There continued to be dunks aplenty for Omoruyi, who played arguably his best game in an Alabama uniform, finishing with 10 points, seven rebounds and a block. Nelson continues to be a force on the glass for Alabama and had his fourth double-double in five games, finishing with 12 points and 11 rebounds, along with a pair of blocks.

Nelson’s boards were part of 49 total for the Tide, which dominated Oklahoma, particularly on the offensive glass. Alabama was able to extend its advantage thanks to 22 offensive rebounds, which the Tide not only collected but converted, scoring 25 second-chance points.

Other Tide forwards chipped in nicely. Jarin Stevenson got Alabama’s first points and had a block in the opening minutes. He had some positive contributions in the second half including a 3 and another emphatic block, finishing the game with nine points, two rebounds and two blocks. Aiden Sherrell also got some run against a smaller Sooners side and chipped in with four points and four rebounds.

Alabama guard Chris Youngblood also did his best impersonation of a dominant forward. Though the Tide got excellent play from its bigs, it was the South Florida transfer who finished behind Nelson with eight rebounds. Youngblood is clearly still working to get his shot back after his return from injury but showed he can contribute in other ways as he re-discovers his shot.

Alabama played with tremendous pride and intensity on the defensive end in the first half, and it showed against Oklahoma’s star freshman guard. Fears didn’t get his first point of the game until the 11:34 minute mark and started 0 of 5 for the game.

Multiple Tide players shouldered the responsibility. Philon and Sears both guarded the 6-foot-4 freshman, while freshman forward Derrion Reid came off the bench fresh off his return from a one-game absence and did an effective job on Fears. Reid has been a versatile defender for Alabama all season, which played in the Tide’s favor against a smaller Oklahoma team.

After sitting for nearly all of the final five minutes of the first half and scoring just one point, Fears managed to find some footing in the second. He finished the game with 16 points as Alabama took its foot off the gas slightly with a big lead. After outscoring Oklahoma by 19 in the first half, The Sooners shrunk that to just a nine-point deficit in the second, keeping pace with Alabama's offense.

Overall, however, Fears was unable to impact the game the way other star players have against Alabama this season. Alabama previously allowed Rutgers freshman Dylan Harper to score 37 points and North Dakota guard Treysen Eaglestaff to drop 41 earlier this season. Fears was unable to have the same impact, as the Tide held him to his fourth-lowest point total and prevented Fears from getting to the free throw line, which has been one of his main scoring avenues this season. Fears shot just 4 of 6 Saturday.

Alabama will hit the road for its next SEC matchup against South Carolina. The Crimson Tide (12-1, 1-0 SEC) will face the Gamecocks (10-4, 0-1) at 6 p.m. CT Wednesday inside Colonial Life Arena. The game will be broadcast on SEC Network.