One of the best offenses in college basketball must find its way against one of the sport’s foremost defensive coaches when No. 18 Alabama faces Seton Hall on Friday night in Tuscaloosa, Ala.
The Crimson Tide (3-0) have averaged 102 points per game so far, handling business against mid-majors Sam Houston, Arkansas State and Oakland. Nate Oats’ squad ranks fifth in KenPom.com’s adjusted offensive efficiency after finishing among the top five in the country each of the past three seasons.
They’re starting a home-and-home with Seton Hall (3-0), with the return game slated for next year in New Jersey, and Friday marks the first time this season either team has faced a power-conference opponent.
The Pirates rank among the top 15 in the country in scoring defense after limiting Saint Peter’s, Long Island and Charlotte to 54.7 points per game. The program’s calling card has been defense since Shaheen Holloway took the reins in 2022.
Seton Hall’s scouting report for Friday likely starts with defending the perimeter. Alabama fell one shy of the school record when it drained 24 3-pointers on 46 attempts in its 109-68 win over Oakland on Monday. London Jemison had a career night, scoring 20 points by making all seven of his shots from the field — six of them 3-pointers.
“London has always been a skilled guy, particularly the shooting part of it for sure,” Oats said. “I think he kinda had to buy into doing more of the tough, gritty, blue-collar stuff we’ve been talking about.”
Aden Holloway (no relation to Shaheen) made his season debut against Oakland after missing the first week of the regular season while serving a suspension for a March arrest for marijuana possession. (Charges were dismissed after he completed a pretrial diversion program.)
He started his fourth season of college basketball and his third at Alabama by scoring 12 points on four 3-pointers. Amari Allen posted 14 points and six assists.
In the cons column, Oakland outrebounded Alabama 37-31. Though it wasn’t an excuse, Oats pointed to the absence of 6-foot-10 Mississippi State transfer Jamarion Davis-Fleming, who was held out after a lower leg injury popped up. The Tide sat him Monday so they could have him available Friday, but Oats said Thursday he has not practiced and is questionable to play.
“For sure, that impacted the rebounding because he’s one of our best rebounders,” Oats said. “He’s physical. He’s tough. He gets in there and mixes it up. So getting him back, getting some of these guys focused in on what they have to do, hopefully we’ll be able to shore up the rebounding deal against Seton Hall Friday night.”
Seton Hall heads south after spending Monday night in Philadelphia, where the Pirates got by Charlotte 68-62 at a neutral-site game at the Palestra.
Both offenses struggled down the stretch, but the Pirates leaned on Roddie Anderson III (17 points), Devin Williams (16) and Mihailo Petrovic, who played a career-high 30 minutes off the bench and provided 12 points, six assists and three steals. When Petrovic faced Alabama last year with Illinois, he handed out five assists in 12 minutes.
Shaheen Holloway also praised the defense of former St. John’s and Texas guard Simeon Wilcher, who helped lock down high-scoring Charlotte guard Keyshuan Tillery. The Pirates held Tillery without a second-half field goal until the final seconds.
“We wanted to give (Tillery) a different look, a taller guy, make him score over him, and I thought Sim did a good job of that,” Holloway said per the Bergen Record.
