Alabama Men’s Basketball Wins Exhibition Game, 91-71, Over Faulkner

The Alabama men’s basketball team rolled to a 91-71 win over the Faulkner Eagles in the team’s lone exhibition game on Friday night at Coleman Coliseum. Junior Ar’Mond Davis finished with 17 points and redshirt freshman Dazon Ingram had 15, as the duo combined to hit 5-of-9 shots from beyond the arc.

“I’m excited to have played an exhibition game,” head coach Avery Johnson said. “I’m pleased overall with our guys’ effort. We have a lot of new guys. We had two guys that redshirted last year in Avery Johnson Jr. and Nick King that were playing their first game in over a year. Dazon (Ingram) was back out there after playing only seven games last year. Braxton (Key) is a freshman. Bola (Olaniyan) is also new. There were also some returning guys from our system that just have to get back in the rhythm. Ar’Mond Davis was new out on the floor.

“Overall, the pace still has to get a little bit faster. We’ve got to pay a little bit more attention to detail, especially defending the three-point line. We came out of the gate pretty good. Now we’ve got some more information on video. We’ll break it down in our next practice. We’ll try to improve on some of the areas we need to work on. It’s good to get back in Coleman and play a game, but the real season starts next Friday.”

After a fairly even opening 10 minutes of play, Alabama pulled ahead on the strength of a 13-2 run to jump out to a 32-17 lead with 5:27 to play in the first half. The Tide outscored Faulkner 20-10 in the paint and had a big 20-1 advantage in points off turnovers in the first half to build its lead. Alabama shot 52 percent from the field and 31 percent from beyond the arc in the opening frame. The Tide recorded seven steals while turning the ball over just six times and took a 12-point lead to the locker room at halftime, up 44-32.

Behind the play of Davis, the Tide stepped up from behind the line in the second half, riding on 56 percent shooting from deep to extend its lead. Davis was 3-of-4 from behind the three-point line in the second half and scored 14 of his team-leading 17 points over the final 20 minutes of play.

From there, the Tide defense took over, holding Faulkner scoreless for four minutes in the middle of the half. With 9:15 to play, the Tide used a 12-2 run over the next 3:27 to push its lead to 82-56 and put the game out of reach. Alabama finished with five players in double figures.

Freshman Braxton Key had solid Alabama debut, as he closed with a game-high seven rebounds to go along with 10 points in 27 minutes of action. Playing in his first game since transferring from Memphis, junior Nick King had a team-best five assists, while adding 11 points, four rebounds and a pair of steals.

As a team, the Tide finished the game with 22 assists, compared to just 12 turnovers, and held a 44-22 advantage in points in the paint. Alabama also controlled the glass, owning a 41-32 rebounding advantage.

The Eagles also had four players reach double figures. Logan Jozwiak led all scorers with 21 points while Marquis Grays and Di’mar Hill added 15 and 13, respectively.

Alabama will officially open its season in Coleman Coliseum next Friday, Nov. 11, against Coastal Carolina. The contest will be a doubleheader as the women will take on New Orleans at 5 p.m. CT, followed by the men hosting Chanticleers at 8 p.m. CT. Both games will air on SEC Network Plus.