BamaCentral Courtside after Alabama's NCAA Tournament Win over Hofstra

Alabama Crimson Tide on SI writers share their final thoughts and takeaways from Benchmark International Arena in Tampa after the Crimson Tide avoided the upset to advance to the Round of 32.

Alabama Crimson Tide on SI writers inside Benchmark International Arena after Alabama's NCAA tournament win over Hofstra | BamaCentral

TAMPA, Fla.–– Alabama is still dancing.

The Crimson Tide staved off a late comeback attempt from Hofstra and used a strong finish to pull away from the Pride in a 90-70 win in the Round of 64 in Tampa, Florida on Friday afternoon. The final score was not indicative of how close the game was for the majority of the time.

"March, you've got to win or you go home," Alabama head coach Nate Oats said after the game. "We were able to figure out how to win here, particularly in the second half. Now we face a really tough team in Texas Tech on Sunday."

With the win, Oats now has 12 NCAA tournament victories with the Crimson Tide, tied with Wimp Sanderson for the most wins by an Alabama head coach in program history.

Alabama's offense seemed a little out of rhythm without Aden Holloway in the first half, but the team settled in after the break. Amari Allen scored all of his 11 points in the second half, and Labaron Philon added 21 of his 29. Philon also had eight rebounds and seven assists.

"I think not just worrying about scoring," Philon said about his big performance. "I missed a couple open shots, but I don't really bank myself on that. I try to get guys involved. I ended up with seven assists, and I was just mainly focused on getting the ball out of my hands when I needed to, getting it back if I needed to.

"So all the guys were ready to play. Amari did great attacking the slots. Taylor [Bol Bowen] hit open shots. [Aiden Sherrell] got rebounds. It's a collective thing. Once we play like that, it's hard to contain it in the full and half court."

Alabama outscored Hofstra by 18 in the second half .

The SEC is now 7-1 in the opening round of March Madness with No. 1 Florida and No. 10 Missouri still to play later in the day on Friday. No. 4 Alabama will take on No. 5 Texas Tech in the Round of 32 on Sunday in Tampa.

Watch the above video as Alabama Crimson Tide on SI writers Theo Fernandez, Joe Gaither, Henry Sklar and Katie Windham share their final thoughts and takeaways from the Crimson Tide's NCAA tournament victory over the Hofstra Pride.

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