CLEVELAND — Robert Morris nearly spoiled what was otherwise a milestone moment for three of Alabama’s freshmen, who made their March Madness debuts Thursday. The Crimson Tide survived in a 91-80 win over the upset-hungry Colonials, meaning its freshmen could enjoy their moment.

Freshman forward Derrion Reid put the Alabama logo on a giant bracket in the Tide’s locker room after it advanced to the second round. He admitted there were some nerves heading into his first tournament game, but a dunk off an assist by Mark Sears quickly settled those down. Reid finished with nine points and four rebounds in 10 minutes.

“Just knowing not many people get this chance so I have to go all out and leave it on the floor, and just being in this situation, most people don’t get that chance either,” Reid said Saturday. “So it just felt great.”

Reid has had his share of adversity in his first season at the college level. He’s dealt with injuries, missing a long stretch of SEC play before finally getting healthy just in time for the postseason.

“It’s honestly been really aggravating,” Reid said of his recovery process. “Just starting my motor and going back and keep having to go back and forth. But me getting my groove there for the 10 minutes I was in was good.”

While he was injured, Reid put his coaching cap on to help out Nate Oats. His job was to amp up his teammates and emphasize physicality, which he’s now able to unleash along with his length and athleticism to make a deep run in March.

Alabama has also depended on freshman center Aiden Sherrell to provide a frontcourt boost. A teammate of Reid at Prolific Prep, Sherrell didn’t report any nerves in his NCAA Tournament debut. Sherrell finished with four points, two rebounds and a block against Robert Morris.

“It was a great experience for sure,” Sherrell said. “Gotta be ready for the challenge because we’re going to get the best effort out of everyone. Everyone’s in this tournament for a reason. So, what I took away is you’ve got to be ready for whatever situation comes.”

Sherrell has improved immensely in his first season, becoming a legitimate option of the Tide’s bench to aid in the frontcourt against the cream of the crop of the SEC. It can be difficult even for elite bigs to make the transition to the college level, but Sherrell’s performances bode well for Alabama both for the rest of the tournament and for the future of its frontcourt.

“I’ve had a lot of growth in a lot of areas this year," Sherrell said. "I’ve been playing defense a lot better. I’ve been finding my teammates a lot better, creating for them. Something I’ve put emphasis on is getting my teammates open and running the floor hard and also rebounding. That’s important, super important for us.”

Four-star freshman Labaron Philon has had the most success among the trio of talented recruits Alabama brought in last offseason. Philon averages 10.6 points, 3.2 rebounds and 3.5 assists per game and has broken into the Tide’s starting lineup in his debut season.

It wasn’t the debut Philon probably imagined in the scoring department, as he finished with just one point against Robert Morris. But the Mobile, Alabama product still racked up a bevy of assists and didn’t turn the ball over in his March Madness debut.

“It was a good game,” Philon said. “I think I had a lot of fun while playing, just finding teammates in the [Robert Morris] game. Only scoring one point, I know its not ideal, but who cares? The team got the win and I found guys all night, had eight assists.

“Coach really just talked to me about going in and getting more rebounds. He said he felt like I could have got it a little bit more and played a well-solid game. So that was good too hear that for sure, even though I didn’t score as much but he still has confidence in me.”

Alabama will need more from Philon during the rest of its tournament run, but a low-scoring performance shouldn’t negate his impact in his first season. He’s become a potential first-round NBA Draft pick with his play on the court and can take over games on both the offensive and defensive end.

“As a young guy, sometimes you've got to step up, and that's what this team needs from me,” Philon said before the tournament. “So I'm going to try to be a leader and just try to have everybody on the same page."

The Tide’s talented freshmen have been crucial to the team's depth. Its also a testament to the recruiting prowess Oats has established in his first six seasons running the program. Alabama will need to get the best from its young group, but the moment of March Madness hasn’t seemed too big thus far.

Alabama will play its second-round game of the NCAA Tournament against No. 7 seed Saint Mary’s at 5:40 p.m. CT Sunday in Cleveland’s Rocket Arena.