Labaron Philon Jr. finished with 20 points, seven rebounds and six assists, and Jalil Bethea matched his career-high with 21 points to lead No. 12 Alabama to a dominant 97-55 win over UTSA on Sunday in Tuscaloosa, Ala..
Amari Allen recorded a double-double with 11 points and 10 rebounds. London Jemison chipped in 20 points, with 14 of them coming in the second half. Alabama (7-2) had 9 different players score at least in the win.
Led by Bethea’s five 3-pointers, Alabama made 16 treys on 57 attempts.
Jamir Simpson led UTSA (4-5) with 20 points on 7-for-17 shooting. Dorian Hayes added 12 points on four 3-pointers.
UTSA hung with Alabama in the second half as the Tide held a tight 41-38 advantage in the final 20 minutes. But all the damage was done in the first half by Alabama.
The Crimson Tide wasted no time jumping out ahead of the Roadrunners. Alabama opened the game on an 8-0 run and held UTSA without a point until the 15:02 minute mark when Daniel Akitoby opened the scoring for the Roadrunners with a layup.
Alabama, however, struggled early offensively, making just three of its first 13 field-goal attempts. But once the high-powered Tide offense got going, they were nearly impossible to slow down.
With Alabama leading 27-10, the Crimson Tide closed the half on a 29-7 run to take a 56-17 lead into the break. The 17 points allowed in the first half were the fewest allowed by Alabama in any half this season.
The Crimson Tide had separate scoring runs of 13-0 and 12-0 in the first half.
The offensive onslaught was led by Bethea, who was playing in just his second game this season after suffering a left foot injury in September. Bethea had 16 first-half points on 5-for-9 shooting.
Alabama made five of its last seven 3-point attempts in the first half. UTSA, on the other hand, went 2-for-12 from deep in the first half and shot 23.1% from the floor.
The Crimson Tide won their fourth consecutive game and will host No. 2 Arizona on Saturday. UTSA next travels to Boulder to take on Colorado.
