While Alabama men’s basketball was challenged on the road against South Alabama last season, the No. 22 ranked Crimson Tide had no issues with the Jaguars this time around.

Alabama took over early and reached triple digits in points for the third time this season. The Crimson Tide hasn't opened a campaign with three straight 100-plus point games since the 1956-57 season and the Alabama's bench alone outscored the Jaguars 52-46 to help seal a 56-point win. The Crimson Tide came just one point shy tying the largest margin of victory inside Coleman Coliseum.

Here are three takeaways from Alabama's 102-46 win over South Alabama:

The Crimson Tide turned to its best-returning player from last season to initiate the offense after a slow start in the first half.

Mark Sears helped ignite a 16-2 Crimson Tide run midway through the opening period that put Alabama in total command after South Alabama was able to set the tempo for a large chunk of the first half.

Sears missed just two shots in the opening 20 minutes, and finished with 17 points, five rebounds and five assists, once again demonstrating that he can be the engine of this Alabama side, and play at a first-team All-SEC level.

"I just let the game come to me," Sears said. "I had great players around me that found me when I was open and I took the shots that were wide open."

Sears’ ability to score on all three levels opened up so many options for Alabama’s other scorers. He was able to find Sam Walters for a corner 3 in the second half, one of three triples by Walters, who finished with 16 points, four rebounds and an assist.

Its Sears’ hard work that gives players like Walters a simpler role in the offense. He draws so much attention that the young Crimson Tide sharpshooter can easily get open around the perimeter and make teams pay when Sears drives and kicks the ball back out.

While Alabama coach Nate Oats will certainly be happy with another big-time scoring night, he’ll be ecstatic at Alabama’s defensive effort.

The Crimson Tide played smart defense to bottle up the Jaguars, which led to easy buckets in transition for Alabama. The Crimson Tide finished with 24 points off of 12 South Alabama turnovers and had full control of the tempo midway through the first half.

"Our effort was better," Oats said. I thought our guys played harder. Guys tried to cover each other's mistakes. Took some charges. I was happy with the effort. It was much better defensively than what we'd been the first two games."

Both Aaron Estrada and Latrell Wrightsell Jr. had multiple steals for the Crimson Tide. While Estrada didn’t have the scoring burst that Alabama fans saw in the first two games of the season, he did lead the way with with four steals for the Crimson Tide.

Estrada, along with the rest of Alabama’s guards made good plays as defensive helpers, doubling down and ripping the ball away when a South Alabama player tried to face up in the high post.

This week, Oats said that Alabama center Nick Pringle hadn’t improved as much as he would like to have seen ahead of the 2022/23 campaign and wants to see more from the former Wofford transfer.

Pringle took an opportunity against a weaker South Alabama side to demonstrate that he can dominate the paint and make smart plays on both ends of the floor. Pringle finished with 12 points, seven rebounds and a block. Oats was quick to acknowledge Pringle's improved performance, especially on the defensive end.

"Nick Pringle was much better," Oats said. "I don't think the official box score is correct. I think he had more blocks than the one they gave him credit for. We'll go back and look on the video and get that squared up. I thought he challenged shots at the rim even when he didn't block them."

Pringle worked well with fellow starting forward Grant Nelson. The two combined to disrupt a shot in the first half, and Pringle caught a lob from Nelson, which extended Alabama’s big lead in the second period.

"It was definitely a challenging week," Pringle said. "(Oats) was emphasizing rim protection and that's something I need to as the starting five man so I just took on the challenge and did what I needed to do and I just need to do it on a more consistent basis."

The Jaguars are certainly a step behind the competition Alabama is building up to, but a performance like the one Pringle had could do wonders for his confidence going forward.

Alabama has one more tune up game before it heads to Destin, Florida for the Emerald Coast Classic. The Crimson Tide next faces Mercer at 7 p.m., Friday inside Coleman Coliseum.