Alabama Basketball Defeats St. John's Despite Free Throw Disparity

No. 15 Alabama went into Madison Square Garden and pulled off a monstrous win over No. 5 St. John's 103-96. The Crimson Tide shot 31-percent from beyond the arc and took 18 more shots from the floor to overcome a free-throw disparity that handicapped Alabama's upset bid.

Alabama guard Aden Holloway fouled out after scoring 21 points, but he wasn't the only Crimson Tide player in foul trouble. Labaron Philon and Aiden Sherrell both racked up four fouls, while Houston Mallette, Taylor Bol Bowen and Noah Williamson all were called for three.

"The only thing really standing out that we've got to really work on is guarding without fouling," Nate Oats said after the win. "It's hard to win a game when the other team doubles you up at the free-throw line. They had 40 free throws, we only had 22, a huge discrepancy. We made tough plays, we're just going to have to figure out how to do it without fouling moving forward."

The Red Storm made more free throws (28-40) than the Crimson Tide attempted (14-22), and the foul discrepancy created a challenge for Oats in managing the minutes and the matchups against a top-five opponent. Bol Bowen answered the challenge, scoring 17 points, securing nine rebounds with two blocks, two steals, and an assist while guarding multiple positions.

"If Taylor doesn’t bring it like he brought it, we have no chance to win this game, especially with the rest of the guys being in foul trouble in the frontcourt," Oats said.

Taylor Bol Bowen Responds in Tremendous Fashion in Win Over St. John's

Alabama was ultimately called for 27 fouls to 17 for St. John's but was able to out rebound the Red Storm and commit fewer turnovers in order to pull off the upset.

"But we still gave up too many O-boards. Our transition D was a little suspect," continued Oats. "And honestly, the biggest thing was we just got to figure out how to do it without fouling. I mean, you can’t put a team in the free-throw line 40 times and expect to get very many wins. So, fortunate for us, they didn’t have a lot of shooting on the floor, so we doubled them up with the threes. We had 11 threes. They only had six. We had more second-chance points. But they scored 28 at the free-throw line. We scored 14. It’s hard to win that way.”

The Crimson Tide moves to 2-0 to start the 2025 season and returns home next Thursday to take on No. 1 Purdue in Coleman Coliseum as Alabama's brutal non-conference schedule continues.