BIRMINGHAM, Ala. - The Alabama men's basketball team (8-5) defeated the Liberty Flames, 101-56, Saturday afternoon inside Legacy Arena at the BJCC in the 2023 C.M. Newton Classic. With the win, head coach Nate Oats won his 100th career game at Alabama becoming the fastest coach in program history to reach 100 career wins.

Latrell Wrightsell Jr. led the Crimson Tide scoring with a season-high 19 points while also hitting a season-high five three-pointers. Five other UA players, Mark Sears (16), Aaron Estrada (13), Grant Nelson (12), Rylan Griffen (10) and Sam Walters (10) also scored in double figures. Estrada added his second career double-double, adding 10 rebounds and eight assists to close out non-conference play.

Saturday's contest marks the second time in as many games that Alabama has had at least six players reach double figures. The Flames (10-4) were led by Kaden Metheny, scoring 14 points and grabbed four rebounds.

Head Coach Nate Oats Postgame Comments
"That was a good win. It is good to win the last non-conference game of the season, they're (Liberty) 49th in the NET rankings coming into today, so hopefully they will play well in their league to get that NET ranking up and keep it in the top-50 and it will end up being a Quad-1 win. We have played plenty of Quad-1 teams in a tough schedule, but we just have not got a lot of wins. We made a big point of emphasis on the defensive side of the ball, we were switching on all ball screens, it gave us some tough matchups on switches and left some good shooters open. All-in-all I thought it was a pretty good game, our defense kept them out of what they do well, we gave them 10 threes made and they shot 35 total which is too many. Our energy was good, our rebounding was good and that was a huge point of emphasis, making free throws and being good on the glass. We shot well from the free throw line, and they only shot six, while we dominated on the glass. Some things that we have been stressing we did well; offensively the ball kept moving against a quality defensive team in Liberty. This might be the most efficient an offense has been against a Ritchie McKay-coach team in a while. One through five that is a good defensive team. We all knew how good of a shooter Latrell (Wrightsell Jr.) is and it's good to see them go in for him and have a big game for us. Aaron (Estrada) having the first double-double of the season and almost a triple-double was huge. Good win going into the New Year and good win going into SEC play."

TEAM STATS

• Today's win over the Flames marks the 100th victory for Head Coach Nate Oats at Alabama, becoming the fastest coach in program history to reach 100 wins
• Alabama has now won three-straight games inside of Legacy Arena, the previous two victories were over Texas A&M CC and Maryland in the 2023 NCAA Tournament
• Saturday's meeting with the Flames marks the third matchup in the series history. The two squads met last season in Tuscaloosa and the only other pairing came in 2018 in Huntsville
• The Tide is 3-0 all-time against the Liberty Flames
• Latrell Wrightsell Jr. played his best game to date as a member of the Crimson Tide, the senior finished with a season-best 19 points, four rebounds, a pair of assists and five made three-pointers
• Alabama finished with six players in double figures: Wrightsell Jr. (19), Mark Sears (16), Aaron Estrada (13), Grant Nelson (12), Rylan Griffen (10) and Sam Walters (10)
• The Tide outrebounded the Flames on Saturday, grabbing 46 boards compared to 24 from Liberty
• Aaron Estrada picked up his second career double-double, and first this season, finishing with 13 points and 10 rebounds
• Estrada's double-double is the first for the Crimson Tide this season
• The Tide dominated points in the paint, outscoring the Flames 42-18
• Alabama surpasses the 100-point mark for the fifth time this season, and the tenth time in the past two seasons combined
• UA shot 50 percent (14-of-28) from beyond the arc on Saturday, compared to 29 percent (10-of-35) from Liberty
• The Tide dished out 21 assists, including eight from Estrada
• The Crimson Tide connected on 33 made three-pointers combined the past two games
• Alabama blanked Liberty in fast break points, 14-0
• The Crimson Tide's bench outscored Liberty's 44-17 on the day

FIRST HALF

• Both squads came out of the gate slow on Saturday; Alabama held a slight 5-3 lead heading into the first media timeout, with both teams shooting a combined 20 percent (2-of-10) from the field
• The game was deadlocked at seven apiece before the Tide sparked an 11-0 run over 2:20 to take an 18-7 advantage
• Liberty bounced back by making three straight field goals to cut the deficit to five before Sam Walters responded with a corner three to increase the Alabama lead 24-16
• The Crimson Tide dished out 11 first half assists, Mark Sears leading the way with four
• Alabama outrebounded Liberty 20-11 in the first 20 minutes
• Latrell Wrightsell Jr. led all scorers at the intermission with 12, the most that the senior has scored this season
• Wrightsell Jr. shot 80 percent (4-of-5) from beyond the arc in the opening frame
• Alabama shot 57 percent (16-of-28) from the field
• The Tide shot 60 percent (9-of-15) from three-point range
• Liberty shot just 27 percent (4-of-15) from three, and 40 percent (11-of-29) in total
• Alabama ended the half on a 16-3 run into the break, taking a 48-27 halftime lead
• Alabama's bench outscored Liberty's team 29-27

SECOND HALF

• The Flames came out of the halftime with an 11-4 run of their own to cut Alabama's lead to 54-38 heading into the first media timeout
• Alabama responded with a 15-3 run over four minutes to increase its lead to 69-41, Wrightsell Jr. buried the team's first three-pointer of the second half
• The Tide built upon its second half push, sparking a run of 15-4 prior to the under eight-minute media timeout
• The Crimson Tide dominated the points in the paint in the second half, outscoring the Flames 28-8
• Alabama outrebounded Liberty 26-13 in the second stanza
• The Tide dished out 10 second half assists, with Aaron Estrada the way with six in the second half
• Alabama converted 83 percent (10-of-12) from the foul line in the second half
• Alabama outscored Liberty 53-29 in the second half

UP NEXT

• Alabama will begin Southeastern Conference play as it travels to Nashville, Tenn. to face the Vanderbilt Commodores on January 6.
• The Crimson Tide will tip-off against the Commodores at 2:30 p.m. CT with the contest airing live on the SEC Network.