Alabama
1-0,0-0SEC
Sam Houston
0-1,0-0CUSA
| Team | 1 | 2 | F |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sam Houston | 29 | 45 | 74 |
| Alabama | 40 | 56 | 96 |
11/3/2026 9:58:00 PM | Men's Basketball
The Crimson Tide defense forced 23 Sam Houston turnovers
TUSCALOOSA, Ala. - The Alabama men's basketball team won its season opener on Tuesday night inside Coleman Coliseum, toppling Sam Houston by a final score of 96-74. The Crimson Tide's defense swarmed the Bearkats all night, totaling 17 steals and 10 blocks.Â
Four Alabama players scored in double figures, led by Drew Fielder and London Jemison, who each dropped 15. Jemison finished the game shooting 6-of-7 from the field while Fielder added six rebounds to his stat line. Qayden Samuels also had an all-around solid performance for the Tide, totaling nine points to go with team highs of five assists and four steals.Â
Sam Houston was led by Jacobe Coleman's 16 points and six boards as the sophomore guard cashed in on four three-pointers.Â
Head Coach Nate Oats Postgame Comments
"First game, the student section was great, they got really loud and it was good for our guys to have the students there and hopefully we can have it filled up for the Arkansas State game on Friday. That will be a really good game.Â
Sam Houston gave us a good test. They ended up beating us on the glass by three, which is a little disappointing. We have been emphasizing rebounding and we are still not very good at it right now. A thing we did well was force 23 turnovers. It was led primarily by Brandon Garrison's pressure on the bigs. Brandon's athleticism, defensive intensityand effort led the way for us.   Â
Our young guys played great. Qayden started for us and had four steals. We did not start well from the field, missing our first seven shots from three, and we were able to turn it up with our defense. We have never played this poorly on offense and still were able to put up 96 points, so the defensive intensity was great tonight. We have been doing a great job emphasizing defensive playmaking in practice. We had si six guys with two or more steals tonight, so that was working great for us tonight."Â
Team StatsÂ
- Alabama's 10 blocks, led by Keitenn Bristow's four, are the most swatted shots by the Tide since last year's meeting against Arizona (15) on Dec. 13, 2025Â
- UA's 17 steals are the most swipes by an Alabama team since Dec. 12, 2020 vs. Clemson (17)Â
- Nate Oats' fast-paced offense was in full swing as the Tide scored 41 fast break points, its most fastbreak points in the Oats eraÂ
- Alabama led wire-to-wire, holding the lead for 38:54 of game playÂ
- Alabama's bigs were dominant inside the paint, as the Tide recorded 48 points inside the paint compared to18 points by Sam HoustonÂ
- UA's stifling defense forced 23 turnovers, the most by a Tide defense since forcing 25 in 2012Â
- The Tide scored 90 or more points in each of the last four season openers going back to 2023-24Â
- Head coach Nate Oats is now 7-1 in season openers at AlabamaÂ
First Half
- At the first media timeout, the Tide held a 6-2 lead while forcing four Sam Houston turnovers. The Bearkats started the game by missing their first three shot attempts.Â
- Alabama made its first three-pointer of the game at 12:42 and was followed by a breakaway windmill dunk by Jaxson Richardson for his first ever collegiate points.Â
- The Bearkats called a timeout with 8:47 remaining in the half as Alabama held an 18-10 advantage. The Tide defense held Sam Houston to 3-of-15 shooting from the field while racking up seven blocks and four steals through the first 11 minutes. Â
- Alabama went on a 12-2 run to take a 34-18 lead with just under five minutes to go.Â
- The Crimson Tide went on to take a 40-29 lead at halftime, forcing 11 Sam Houston turnovers. The turnovers turned into13 points for Alabama on the other end.Â
- London Jemison was the only Tide player to reach double digits with 10 points on 4-of-4 shooting from the field.Â
- Alabama finished the half with seven blocks and seven steals which helped the team score 18 fastbreak points.Â
- UA outscored Sam Houston 20-to-6 in the paint. Â
Second Half
- Alabama opened the second half on a 16-2 run to take a 56-31 over the Bearkats with 15:57 to go in regulation.Â
- Later on, a fastbreak layup by Drew Fielder capped off eight unanswered points for the Tide as Alabama took a 30-point lead, 69-39.Â
- The three-pointers started to fall for UA which helped the team build its largest lead of the game at 32 points, 79-47, with just over eight minutes remaining.Â
- Sam Houston battled back with some scoring runs, but Alabama managed to maintain a comfortable advantage, leading 90-61 with 3:39 remaining.Â
- The Crimson Tide closed out the second half shooting 54 percent (20-of-37) from the field.Â
- Thirteen of Alabama's 19 free throw attempts came in the second half.Â
- Drew Fielder, Amari Allen and Qayden Samuels led the offense, combining for 23 points over the final 20 minutes.Â
Up Next
- Alabama will play Arkansas State on Friday, Nov. 6Â
- Tipoff is set for 6:30 p.m. CT at Coleman ColiseumÂ
