Alabama basketball unofficially tipped off its season Friday. The Crimson Tide played its first of two exhibition games, defeating Wake Forest 98-77 inside Boutwell Auditorium in Birmingham.

After reaching its first Final Four in school history, the Crimson Tide will begin the 2024-25 season ranked No. 2 in the country with a loaded roster and lofty expectations following its run. The Crimson Tide didn’t look complacent in its first exhibition game, playing with good hustle and at the typical pace that Nate Oats-led teams have become known for.

Alabama is still working out some kinks in the final weeks ahead of the season, but it certainly looked like a team worthy of its preseason ranking and showed some improvement in key areas that the Tide was lacking in last season.

Here are three takeaways from Alabama’s exhibition win.

Alabama was without Grant Nelson, Latrell Wrightsell Jr., Aiden Sherrell and Chris Youngblood against the Demon Deacons. Nelson, Wrightsell and Sherrell were all held out for precautionary measures as they continue to deal with minor injuries, while Youngblood is expected to return in December.

With a thinner group for its first exhibition game, Alabama’s depth pieces were given extended opportunities Saturday. Transfer guard Houston Mallette and sophomore forward Jarin Stevenson were both included in the starting lineup and made an impact. Mallette drilled three 3s and finished with nine points, five rebounds and two assists. Stevenson continues to look more and more comfortable on both ends ahead of his sophomore season and with 10 points, six rebounds, one assist, one block and a steal.

Alabama freshman Derrion Reid also made the most of his 23 minutes on the court Friday. The freshman showed off his excellent feel around the rim and was confident driving the ball against Wake Forest's defense.

Reid finished with seven points, five rebounds, two blocks and a steal and had the play of the game when he blocked Wake Forest guard Hunter Sallis and made an athletic play to save the ball from going out of bounds. The ball ended up in the hands of Sears who raced down the floor and threw a lob in transition to Clifford Omoruyi.

“That’s how we want to play,” Oats said after the game. “That’s the stuff we were looking for is can we get some effort plays.”

Alabama sophomore Mouhamed Dioubate played like he was back in Spokane, Washington in Alabama’s NCAA Tournament game against Grand Canyon. In that game, Dioubate saved the Crimson Tide’s tournament run with an impressive performance in the final five minutes.

Dioubate once again stood out among the Crimson Tide’s reserves Friday. He was everywhere on both ends and finished with 10 points, five rebounds, three assists, one block and two steals. With Nelson not available, Dioutabe looked like a more than capable replacement, showing off his improved jumper making one of his two 3-point attempts to help the Tide set the tone on the glass.

Omoruyi was Alabama’s biggest pickup this offseason and the former Rutgers center wasted now time showing his impact in the paint Friday. Omoruyi was Alabama's co-leader with six rebounds and added seven points and a pair of blocks.

Omoruyi helped Alabama set the tone on the glass, which was carried on by the big man’s teammates. Alabama took pride in rebounding the ball on both ends of the floor in its blowout win. The Tide won the rebounding battle 44-35 and snagged 14 offensive rebounds, which turned into 19 second-chance points.

The Crimson Tide looked eager to rebound and was able to finish off several possessions by beating the Demon Deacons to long rebounds. That effort was especially helpful in the first half when the Tide initially struggled to shoot the ball. Stevenson matched Omouriy's output with six rebounds while Mallette and Reid each had five. Every Alabama player with at least one minute of action grabbed at least one rebound in the win.

Alabama still has some kinks to work out offensively. Wake Forest was successful in slowing the Tide down early with a few stops and forced 12 Alabama turnovers. Instead of letting those turnovers continue to add up, however, Alabama leaned on its work on the glass to help spearhead a quick turnaround as the Tide got comfortable as a unit on the offensive end.

While Alabama certainly wants to get Wrightsell back quickly, the Tide hardly missed the veteran guard in its blowout win. The backcourt players who were available Friday showed why Alabama should have ample options at the guard position after being somewhat thin in that area last season.

Alabama star guard Mark Sears was his usual self, finishing with 19 points, three rebounds and six assists. Sears looked comfortable leading Alabama’s offense with plenty of talent around him and also made a nice impact defensively.

“I think you saw a markedly improved Mark Sears on the defensive end," Oats said. "That steal that he had where he got fouled right after it, I think he’s taken pride in his defense being tough. That was great to see out of Mark.”

But Sears’ supporting cast, in particular Aden Holloway went stride for stride with the All-American guard Friday night. Holloway took over in the second half to lead Alabama with 20 points and made 5 of 12 attempts from beyond the arc. While Holloway got off to a slower start shooting, he showed off his playmaking early and finished with six assists.

“We’ve seen Aden shoot the ball really well a lot in practice,” Oats said. “I think he had to get a little comfortable. He’s a really good shooter. He goes to the free throw line and misses two free throws early. I think he was just a little nervous, had to get his feet under him. Some of those 3s he hit late though, we’ve been watching those 3s go in at practice a lot.”

Alabama's other new guard option also finished in double figures Friday. Freshman guard Labaron Philon lived up to his offseason hype with 13 points, four rebounds and five assists. Philon showed off his three-level scoring ability, connecting on 3 of 6 attempts from 3-point range. He also was smooth finishing around the rim, hitting a crafty Euro step layup in the second half.

Alabama has one more exhibition game before its season opener against UNC Asheville on Nov. 4. The Crimson Tide will first face Memphis at 7 p.m. CT on Oct. 28 in Huntsville The game will be streamed on the Hibbett Sports YouTube channel.