BIRMINGHAM, AL — The University of Alabama men's basketball team improved to 2-0 in preseason exhibition play Thursday night with a 92-84 victory over Ole Miss in the annual Ballin' in Boutwell game in Birmingham.
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Preseason All-SEC selection Amari Allen led six Crimson Tide players in double figures with 19 points and five assists, while freshman Cole Cloer added 18 points and four assists.
The Crimson Tide shot 50% from the field and dominated the glass, outrebounding the Rebels 45-28, including 14 offensive rebounds that resulted in 20 second-chance points.
Drew Fielder recorded a double-double with 11 points and 10 rebounds, while London Jemison scored 13 points.
Jamarion Davis-Fleming and Qayden Samuels also contributed 12 points apiece.
The Crimson Tide overcame an early six-point deficit with a 23-9 first-half run to build a 40-29 advantage. However, Ole Miss closed the half with a 10-0 run to trim Alabama's lead to 42-39 at halftime.
Alabama appeared to take control midway through the second half, using a 15-3 run to build its largest lead of the night at 65-47 with 11:28 remaining.
The Rebels refused to go away, cutting the deficit to 86-83 with 2:46 left before Alabama sealed the victory at the free-throw line.
Despite the win, Alabama head coach Nate Oats expressed frustration with his team's 20 turnovers, which resulted in 23 points for Ole Miss.
"There's a reason we play good teams in the exhibitions, it helps to expose some stuff that we need to work on as a team," Oats said. "Our transition defense was not the best but our rebounding in the first half was great. Turnovers were a disaster tonight."
Corey Stephenson led Ole Miss with 25 points off the bench, while Budd Clark finished with 15 points and seven assists.
Defensively, Alabama limited the Rebels to just 20% shooting from three-point range, holding Ole Miss to 4-of-20 from beyond the arc.
"Ole Miss did a good job hanging in there," Oats said. "We had a couple chances to put them away and just couldn't. They had a 10-0 run before we scored the last bucket of the first half. We started the game well but closed the first half terribly, and the start of the second half was not good on defense."
The Crimson Tide will remain in Birmingham for its final preseason exhibition, facing rival Auburn in the inaugural edition of "The Feud" at Legacy Arena.
Tipoff is scheduled for 7 p.m. CT.
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