13 things we learned from Alabama basketball’s charity exhibition against Wake Forest

BIRMINGHAM — Alabama basketball had Boutwell Auditorium bouncing for the first time in more than 45 years on Friday.

The historic Birmingham venue welcomed the Crimson Tide and Wake Forest, along with a room packed full of fans, for a rematch of last season’s charity exhibition in the inaugural “Bama in Boutwell” game.

For their next exhibition appearance, coach Nate Oats and the team will travel to Huntsville to play Memphis on Oct. 28.

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Here are 13 things we learned about Alabama basketball against Wake:

Alabama basketball almost breaks 100 settling score against Wake Forest

Last year, Wake Forest hosted Alabama home in Winston-Salem at Lawrence Joel Veterans Memorial Coliseum to claim an 88-80 charity exhibition win. The Crimson Tide won this preseason’s rematch 98-77.

Who made the starting five?

The starting five for the night consisted of three guards, featuring freshman Labaron Philon, grad senior Mark Sears and Pepperdine transfer Houston Mallette, with Rutgers transfer Cliff Omoruyi at center and returning sophomore Jarin Stevenson at forward.

Three still sidelined for Alabama basketball

Freshman forward Aiden Sherrell and returning guard Latrell Wrightsell Jr. remained week to week with lower leg injuries while South Florida transfer Chris Youngblood (ankle) isn’t expected to be back until conference play in January.

Grant Nelson joins IR list

Another big piece of the lineup arrived to Boutwell in street clothes. Ahead of the game, the 6-foot-11 forward transfer from North Dakota State was ruled out, week-to-week with an abdomen injury.

Alabama former Davin Cosby Jr. gets Final Four ring at last

Prior to tipoff, coach Nate Oats made sure to give former Alabama guard Davin Cosby Jr. a well-deserved Final Four championship ring. Cosby hit the portal after his freshman year to join the Demon Deacons in April. He recorded 12 points, two rebounds and four assists on Friday.

Crimson Tide gains 30 new fans from Children’s of Alabama

The Crimson Tide heard some new voices in the stands at Boutwell Auditorium, as Children’s of Alabama sent 30 patients to the charity exhibition game to cheer on the friends they made during a visit from the team earlier in the day.

Freshmen deliver on high praises and expectations

As they continue to get their feet wet, freshmen Labaron Philon and Derrion Reid showed how they’re going to help the defense get back to what it was with three rebounds each in the first half. Philon ended the evening with 13 points, four rebounds and five assists while Reid wrapped the night with 10 points, an assist and split a team-high six rebounds with Stevenson and Omoruyi.

Cliff Omoruyi proves big man Alabama needed in action

Against Wake, 6-11, 250 pound Omoruyi proved to be exactly what the Crimson Tide has been missing. His dunk with less than five minutes to halftime drew Oats and his teammates to the floor for a celebration and Wake to the bench for a timeout, answering that with a put-back dunk to lead 38-28. He finished with seven points total.

Mark Sears lives up to preseason accolades

The SEC preseason Player of the Year and CBS National Preseason Player of the Year had a slower first half. He led Alabama with eight points, but five were from the free throw line. He proved he’s still the top point guard in the league, and the country, in the second half, adding to his single trey on the night with three more before the buzzer.

Getting more from Mouhamed Dioubate

Sophomore forward Mouhamed Dioubate owned the backend of the first period as Wake Forest kept it within a possession of the Crimson Tide. The 6-foot-7, 215 pounder denied the opposition the lead with back-to-back shots in the first period, making a dunk at the 7:30 mark and a jumper with 6:29 to halftime for a 29-23 lead.

Alabama basketball continues to own the arc

Down the roster, the Crimson Tide, who finished the 2023-24 season shooting 37.3 percent from the arc, shot 41.3 percent (19-for-46) in three-point territory against Wake. In the first half, Alabama sank eight of 14 field goal attempts for three. With 10:18 to halftime, Alabama had scored five field goals. All of them were three-pointers.

Auburn transfer Aden Holloway takes over as top scorer

Alabama is lucky that Holloway’s offense is continuing to improve since his move from Auburn. Although the Crimson Tide dominated from downtown, they struggled to be productive in the paint. Holloway made the team’s first layup at with 8:12 to go in the first period.

Eventually being limited to the arc didn’t stop Holloway’s scoring frenzy, who finished shooting 5-for-12 from downtown for a team-high 20 points ahead of 19 for Sears. Each totaled six assists.

Defense still giving up points off of turnovers

Alabama kept up its signature speed to slow down Wake Forest — just like its tendency to give up points on turnovers. With 10 minutes to the horn, Wake trailed 71-56, but had managed to score 15 points on 12 turnovers by the Alabama defense.

Emilee Smarr covers Alabama basketball and Crimson Tide athletics for the Tuscaloosa News. She can be reached via email at esmarr@gannett.com.

This article originally appeared on The Tuscaloosa News: Alabama basketball: 13 things we learned from Wake Forest exhibition