No. 16 Alabama is searching for a better rebounding effort Sunday when it faces high-octane Kennesaw State in Huntsville, Ala.
Led by Labaron Philon’s 22.4 points per game, Alabama (8-3) has no trouble scoring the ball, ranking seventh in the nation with a 94.1 ppg clip. The Crimson Tide’s commitment to cleaning the glass, though, has left head coach Nate Oats frustrated.
Alabama shot its way past South Florida, 104-93, on Wednesday but allowed 25 offensive rebounds, an area of concern before the team faces SEC opponents come January.
“We’ve been emphasizing the rebounding issues,” Oats said. “They’re trying. We’ve got to continue to work on it. We’ve got to continue to get better. We have guys that can rebound. We have got to get better at it before we get into SEC play, for sure.”
The Crimson Tide are finally playing with a full roster amidst a nonconference slate filled with injuries. The team’s second leading scorer Aden Holloway (16.6 ppg) has missed five games but poured in 24 points against USF. Latrell Wrightsell Jr. (11.5 ppg) has played in just six games but is also back in the rotation.
A constant for Oats’ team has been fifth-year guard Houston Mallette. After being sidelined for all but six games last season with injury, Mallette has filled in at any spot needed for the Crimson Tide as one of just five players to appear in each game this season.
“(Houston) plays hard all the time,” Oats said. “He’s about the right stuff. He’s super coachable. Anything we emphasize, he’s trying to do it at an elite level. I love coaching Houston. He’s nowhere close to being perfect. He’s got defensive breakdowns he’s got to get better at, but he tries to do exactly what you tell him to do all the time.”
As high-potent an offense as Alabama has, it hasn’t faced a higher-scoring team than Kennesaw State.
The Owls (8-3) are fifth in Division I with 94.5 points per game, spearheaded by senior Simeon Cottle’s 19.3 clip. Sunday will serve as a reunion, as third-year Kennesaw State head coach Antoine Pettway was a four-year player at Alabama from 2000-04, before serving under Oats as a Crimson Tide assistant coach.
After exchanging pleasantries with his former boss, Pettway will hope to see his team battle as heavy underdogs.
“I’ve got a major group of guys. Our locker room is built on high-character young men,” Pettway said. “We work extremely hard, so it’s so good to see them have success. I think the sky’s the limit. We’re young, so to see us grow up, it’s only going to bode well down the line.”
Despite the Owls’ 68-67 loss at Middle Tennessee on Wednesday, the 8-3 start matches the program’s best since its debut Division I season in 2005-06. Kennesaw State is 1-16 all-time against ranked opponents after upsetting No. 24 Rutgers last season.
–Field Level Media
