Labaron Philon scored a career-high 22 points and added eight assists to lead No. 15 Alabama to an easy 91-62 victory over North Dakota on Monday night in the season opener for both teams in Tuscaloosa, Ala.
Houston Mallette added 15 points and eight rebounds for the Crimson Tide. Amari Allen registered 12 points, seven rebounds, five assists and three steals and London Jemison also had 12 points for Alabama, which never trailed.
Garrett Anderson had 13 points and three steals and Eli King added 11 points and four steals for the Fighting Hawks.
The Crimson Tide played without Aden Holloway (wrist) and Latrell Wrightsell Jr. (finger). Wrightsell missed most of last season with an Achilles injury.
Alabama shot 53.4 percent from the field but made just 8 of 27 from 3-point range. Philon was 9 of 13 from the field.
The Crimson Tide held a 46-26 rebounding advantage and had a 24-11 edge in fast-break points.
North Dakota shot 38.7 percent from the field and was a lowly 5 of 20 from behind the arc while losing to the Crimson Tide for the second straight season.
Alabama’s lead reached 20 for the first time on a fast-break dunk by Allen with 18:29 left in the contest.
Jemison followed with back-to-back baskets to make it 58-34 with 17:24 remaining.
Davion Hannah connected from behind the arc to push the margin to 25 at 61-36 with 16:44 to play.
North Dakota answered by scoring 11 of the next 15 points to move within 65-47 on two free throws by King with 12:03 left.
Alabama then received a three-point play from Aiden Sherrell and a layup by Philon to lead by 23 with 11:19 remaining.
Mallette later drilled a 3-pointer to make it 81-55 with 5:12 remaining.
A ferocious dunk by Hannah increased the margin to 28 with 3:15 left as Alabama closed it out.
Philon had 15 points and seven assists in the first half to help the Crimson Tide hold a 48-32 lead at the break.
Alabama led by one early before rattling off nine straight points to take a 19-9 lead on a 3-pointer by Mallette less than five minutes into the game.
Allen’s 3-pointer pushed the Alabama lead to 48-29 in the final half-minute before Anderson drained a trey in the final seconds for the Fighting Hawks.
