Alabama Basketball's Freshmen Are Coming Into Their Own
TUSCALOOSA, Ala. — At just the right time, Alabama's trio of freshmen are each easing into their own roles, and beginning to thrive in them.
In Alabama's thrilling 68-67 win over Arkansas, J.D. Davison, Charles Bediako, and Jusaun Holt were all key pieces.
Davison made his fourth start of the season, with typical starter Jahvon Quinerly being moved to the bench seemingly for matchup purposes, and Davison took advantage. The 6'3" point guard held his own defensively against Arkansas' bigger wings, and pushed Alabama to a larger lead with a 7-0 run on his own in the middle of the second half.
Davison finished as Alabama's leading scorer on the day, scoring 11 points. This marked the second game in a row that Davison has scored in double-figures, and the first time he has done so since Dec.
"J.D. was good for us," Crimson Tide head coach Nate Oats said. "He attacked downhill, he was aggressive. He's a bigger guard. [...] Teams know he's bigger he's bigger and a little more physical. [...] He's shooting the ball well enough where teams have to be honest with him."
The former five-star has looked more and more comfortable with his ability to drive the basketball downhill, and it has resulted in a variety of highlight-worthy athletic finishes as well as another weapon for the Crimson Tide to utilize offensively.
Center Charles Bediako has been trending upward for the Crimson Tide for a few games now.
After holding his own against the nation's best in Auburn's Walker Kessler and Kentucky's Oscar Tshiebwe in the past few weeks, Bediako came off the bench against Arkansas for just the second time this season.
The 7-footer has seen a smaller minute share as the season has progressed, and he has benefitted from it from a stamina standpoint. Bediako was Alabama's leading scorer at halftime against Arkansas with nine points, many of which came on aggressive dunks that he had struggled to convert earlier in the season.
Holt has seen an uptick in minutes throughout the season, which came to a head against Ole Miss on Wednesday when he played 26 minutes, a season high.
Facing Arkansas, Holt did not see the same amount of playing time, but made the most of the minutes he got grabbing three rebounds and hitting his second three of the season.
"Jusaun's been playing harder in practice, I think his attitude has been really good," Oats said. "He made the one big three today, we want him to shoot it when he's open. [...] He's made tough plays, he mixes it up on defense, he rebounds the ball. With Darius being out some games he took advantage of his chance and now he's in the rotation and playing more."
Holt can continue to carve out a role for himself as he continues to hustle and do the blue-collar work that Oats is so fond of, as well as hitting the occasional three-pointer.
Without these freshmen, Alabama would not have been able to knock off the hottest team in the SEC in Arkansas, and all three of them will be vital to Alabama as the Crimson Tide looks to make a late season push with March on the horizon.
