Alabama
0-0,0-0SEC
Furman
0-0,0-0SoCon
| Team | 1 | 2 | F |
|---|---|---|---|
| Furman | 49 | 44 | 93 |
| Alabama | 60 | 51 | 111 |
Men's Basketball Wins its Preseason Opener, Downs Furman 111-93
10/8/2026 9:55:00 PM | Men's Basketball
The Crimson Tide’s newcomers scored 82 of the team’s 111 total points
TUSCALOOSA, Ala. – The Alabama men's basketball team won its first of three exhibition games, capturing a 111-93 victory over the Furman Paladins on Thursday night inside Coleman Coliseum. The Crimson Tide shot 56.2 percent (41-of-73) from the field and connected on 16 three-pointers (16-of-39) to secure the 18-point win.
Alabama was led by second-year returner Amari Allen's team highs of 19 points and six steals to lead six UA players in double figures. Freshman Tarris Bouie had a stellar debut, tallying 18 points and a team-high eight boards, while Qayden Samuels added 17 points in the victory
Furman was led by Marcus Kell's 22 points, while Abijah Franklin also poured in 21 points in the loss.
Head Coach Nate Oats Postgame Comments
"First time we're together against another team, there's going to be plenty to work on. I'm glad we play quality teams like Furman, they have been the best team in their conference, and they are very well coached. Bob Richey is one of the best teams in the country, so you know we're going to get tested.
Our defense has a long way to go but the good thing is that it's still pretty early. We have plenty of time before we play regular season games that count towards our record. We had a lot good moments from the young guys. Cole came out early and made some shots for us, which was huge after we started slow offensively. Cole also was the best defensively tonight for us when you look at efficiency when he was on the floor. Qayden played well in the point guard spot for us in the 14 minutes Amari was off the court. He was a little out of position being a natural scorer all his life but he played great tonight having only two turnovers in 26 minutes. Tarris ended up winning the hard hat for us tonight, leading us in rebounding and being our second-leading scorer.
We had very balanced scoring tonight with Amari at 19, Tarris at 18, Qayden at 17, and Brandon Garrison at 15 in limited minutes at 16 minutes. I'm very happy with our offensive output, but everyone on the team has to get significantly better on defense. We gave up too many offensive boards and three-pointers but they are a good offensive team. They are going to expose what you don't do well and we just need to get better defensively."
Team Stats
- The Alabama newcomers combined to score 82 points with four (Qayden Samuels, Tarris Bouie, Brand Garrison and Cole Cloer) reaching double figures
- The Tide finished the game with six players in double figures, including four players with at least 15 points
- Amari Allen collected a team-leading 19 points and six assists, with Bouie (18), Samuels (17), Garrison (15), Cloer (14) and London Jemison (10) each reaching double figures
- The UA depth shined as Alabama's reserves outscored its counterparts with a big 51-23 advantage in points off the bench
- This marks Alabama's second preseason in a row with a 15-plus-point victory against Furman in an exhibition game
- The Tide nearly doubled the Paladins points in the paint (50-24) and outrebounded Furman 44-38 to help hold a 17-11 advantage in second-chance points
First Half
- The Paladins started hot, making their first three shots of the game, but would only hit one of its next seven shots to cut Furman's lead to 12-10 at the first media timeout
- Alabama freshman Cole Cloer checked in at the timeout and would knock down three shots from behind the arc to give the Tide a 25-22 lead at the 11:13 mark.
- An extended 15-5 run over four minutes of game time resulted in a 35-27 lead for the Tide with 7:39 remaining in the first half
- Alabama went 9-of-16 from beyond the three-point line to help take a 50-41 lead with 3:41 until halftime
- Alabama would go on to take an 11-point lead, 60-49, into the break
- Newcomer Brandon Garrison came off the bench to lead the Tide with 13 points on 6-of-6 shooting in the opening half to go along with three rebounds and two assists
- Alabama scored 13 points off seven Paladin turnovers in the first half
- The Tide reserves scored 26 points, led by Garrison's 13 and nine from Cloer
Second Half
- UA picked up where it left off, beginning the half shooting 5-of-9 from the field to grow its lead to 16 (71-55) at the first media timeout
- The Tide scored 18 of its first 22 points from inside the paint, helping extend the lead to 21 points with 12:26 remaining
- Despite not making a field goal for over a four-minute stretch, six makes from the charity stripe kept the Tide's margin comfortable at 18 points with 7:30 left in the game
- An Amari Allen trey put Alabama on the century mark with 4:43 remaining, leading 100-81
- Alabama finished the game hitting eight of its final 11 shots, resulting in the final score.
- Tarris Bouie scored 12 of his 18 points in the second half
- UA outscored Furman 28-12 in the paint in the final stanza
- The Tide connected on 19-of-34 (56 percent) shots from the field over the final 20 minutes
Up Next
- The Tide will play two more exhibition games, both in Birmingham, beginning with a matchup vs. Ole Miss inside Boutwell Auditorium
- Tipoff for the 'Ballin' in Boutwell' match-up is set for 7 p.m. CT and can be seen on SEC Network
