How Alabama's Freshman Replaced Mouhamed Dioubate's Blue Collar Void

TUSCALOOSA, Ala. - No. 14 Alabama welcomed a familiar face to Coleman Coliseum as the program kicked off SEC play on Saturday against the Kentucky Wildcats.

"Mo D Sucks" rang throughout the arena as the home crowd jeered the once beloved Mouhamed Dioubate in his return to Tuscaloosa since transferring to Lexington last offseason. Dioubate is Kentucky's second leading scorer and rebounder as he's taken on a larger opportunity in Lexington, but ended his return to town with just six points, eight rebounds, an assist, and a steal as the Crimson Tide posted an 89-74 win over the Wildcats.

"I think he's exactly what you know he is," Kentucky's Mark Pope said. "He's a tough guy, he cares about winning, he cares about his teammates, cares about playing, good leader and he has been and will continue to be a huge piece for us."

Dioubate left a huge void in the toughness department in Tuscaloosa with his transfer as he frequently served a spark off the bench and won multiple hard hats with his effort and grit. Saturday's hard hat winner for Alabama, Amari Allen, has fully embraced the blue collar mentality of the program and filled the void left by Dioubate's departure.

"100-percent. I know we cross-matched and guarded with Trelly [Latrell Wrightsell] on Mo D, but with that group who started, he's our starting four, and Mo D played four or five, shoot, at the very end, we can play Amari [Allen] at the five, he's our leading rebounder," Nate Oats said. "He's been that for a ton of games this year, but he's also a combo-guard, point guard at the other end who can make plays. It's nice when you can put a guy in there that's talented enough to be a point guard on offense, and tough enough to be your blue collar, toughness guy like Mo D was for us last year. He's good. He's really good."

Allen opened the game scoring five points and securing three rebounds to answer the Wildcat's 5-0 start. He finished the game with 11 points, nine rebounds, three assists, a block and a steal in 31 minutes of action. The true freshman did all of that despite missing part of the first half after rolling his ankle going for a rebound.

"First off, my ankle, with the adrenaline, it feels better right now. I'm sure when I wake up in the morning, it'll be rough, but I'll get in with Clarke [Holter] a lot and get it good for the Vandy game," Allen said. "Just coming into the game, Oats preaches that get yourself going in the game doing the tough stuff, and I feel like once you get that mentality, every game you're just going out and being tough, then it becomes a habit. It starts with practice. Practice, in my opinion, are harder than the games. Him preaching it every day just gets you in that mode."

Allen's performance propelled the Crimson Tide to a 1-0 start in SEC play and helped the program win the rebounding battle 41-37 against the Wildcats. As the Alabama's prior spark plug struggled in his return to Coleman Coliseum the freshman showed he's fully bought into Oats and the blue collar mentality.