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Live Blog: No. 15 Alabama Basketball vs. Florida State in Birmingham Exhibition

Score updates and analysis from Boutwell Auditorium as the Crimson Tide takes on the Seminoles in a preseason matchup.
Hunter De Siver|
Alabama vs. Florida State in Boutwell Auditorium
Alabama vs. Florida State in Boutwell Auditorium | BamaCentral

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Alabama Crimson Tide

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. — No. 15 Alabama men's basketball is set to face Florida State on Saturday evening at Boutwell Auditorium for the annual "Ballin in Boutwell" event.

Alabama has had quite the offseason after becoming the only school in the country to reach the Elite Eight round in each of the last two NCAA Tournaments. The Crimson Tide had four outgoing transfers but also five incoming transfers, and the team also signed four recruits to its freshmen class. These newcomers have joined five returners from last year's team.

This new roster will be put to the test against the Seminoles, as tipoff is set for 7 p.m. CT and the game will be broadcast on Hibbett's YouTube channel.

FOLLOW ALONG FOR LIVE UPDATES AND ANALYSIS BEFORE AND DURING THE GAME. REFRESH YOUR BROWSER AS THE MOST RECENT EVENTS WILL APPEAR AT THE TOP.

Final: Alabama 109, Florida State 105

Alabama Basketball vs. Florida State
Alabama Basketball vs. Florida State Final Score and Stats | StatBroadcast

Second Half

  • Timeout (1:06 2H): Alabama 106, FSU 102 — Florida State will not go away. Their current 102 points would've been the third-most points Alabama allowed last season.
  • Timeout (3:59 2H): Alabama 95, FSU 91 — Things are really clicking for Alabama offensively as the Tide has made its last four field goal attempts. Labaron Philon is building on a career-high with 24 points, Aden Holloway has 15, Taylor Bol Bowen is at 14 and Keitenn Bristow has 13.
  • 4:46: Alabama 91, FSU 87 — Although it's an exhibition guard Labaron Philon just set a new career-high 22 points. Philon had 21 points twice last season against South Dakota State and Kentucky.
  • Timeout (7:29 2H): FSU 83, Alabama 79 — Things are getting exciting in Boutwell Auditorium as Alabama has been connecting offensively but can't get consistent stops. Keitenn Bristow has looked really good in this one as he's up to 13 points and five rebounds.
  • Timeout (11:45 2H): Alabama 69, FSU 69 — Boutwell Auditorium has really come alive over the last few minutes. Labaron Philon is up to 18 points with three assists.
  • Timeout (15:21 2H): Alabama 60, FSU 60 — Bit of a back-and-forth affair to start the second half. Last year's returning guards Labaron Philon and Aden Holloway have made a difference in these first few minutes. Offseason transfer Keitenn Bristow continues to make an impression.
  • Nate Oats said on Tuesday that Aden Holloway has become a lot more physical. We just saw that on that heavily contested layup.

Halftime: Florida State 48, Alabama 47

  • Below is the stats after a rough final four minutes. Of course, there were a few positives in the first half, as sharing the ball was a common theme. Every Alabama player except for freshman center Collins Onyejiaka has scored so far.

First Half

  • Timeout (3:34): Alabama 43, FSU 32 — Taylor Bol Bowen has really come alive against his former team as he's up to 11 points. Defensively, freshman forward London Jemison has been displaying a ton of hustle with dives on the floor. Also, freshman Davion Hannah is a freak athlete. Although Alabama is up 11 against FSU, it is shooting 11 of 21 from the FT line and has 10 turnovers. This score could be a lot different.
  • Timeout (7:54): Alabama 29, FSU 25 — Alabama is really getting aggressive down low on both ends. Transfer forward Keitenn Bristow has made some big plays offensively in the paint during this stretch as he's up to six points on 3 of 3 from the field with two offensive rebounds.
  • Timeout (12:00): FSU 23, Alabama 18 — Some good fight from Alabama in the last couple of minutes. Labaron Philon has taken command on both ends vocally as he's up to seven points (hit back-to-back threes). Alabama has made 5 of its last 6 field goal attempts.
  • Timeout (14:02): FSU 18, Alabama 11 — The Seminoles are on a 9-0 run and Alabama has three turnovers in the last 84 seconds. Seven turnovers total for Alabama. The Crimson Tide, the fastest paced team in the country last season, is simply just rushing things on offense.
  • Timeout (15:47): Alabama 9, Florida State 9 — A bit of a sloppy start for the Crimson Tide as it has three turnovers compared to FSU's 1. However, UA is 3 of 4 from the field and freshman Amari Allen, the player Nate Oats has been surprised by, has five points off the bench.
  • Alabama guard Labaron Philon gets the Crimson Tide's first point of the preseason. Going 1 of 2 from the FT line. Bol Bowen gets Alabama's first field goal of the preseason with a corner three.
  • Taylor Bol Bowen took the jump ball, despite being an inch shorter than fellow Alabama starting forward Aiden Sherrell.

Pregame

Alabama Starting Lineup:

Position, player, games started last season

  • G Labaron Philon: 29/37 games
  • G Aden Holloway: 0/37
  • G Houston Mallette: 0/6
  • F Taylor Bol Bowen: 28/29 (at Florida State)
  • F Aiden Sherrell: 0/36
  • IMPORTANT NOTE: Alabama guard Latrell Wrightsell Jr. is not in uniform after participating in warmups. He's still recovering from his Achilles rupture.
  • Alabama will be wearing the standard white jersey tonight while Florida State wears garnet.
  • Alabama forward Taylor Bol Bowen slams his own alley-oop pass off the backboard. He transferred from Florida State in the offseason and is definitely a player to watch tonight.
  • IMPORTANT NOTE: Bucknell transfer center Noah Williamson is not in uniform and has been watching warmups off to the side. Oats told Crimson Tide CTSN that Williamson had a minor knee injury but should be available for Alabama's next scrimmage on Oct. 26 at Furman. Fellow transfer guard Jalil Bethea is also not in uniform and won't be for a while, as he's recovering from a foot injury.
  • Check out Alabama freshman Amari Allen. The 6-foot-8 wing has been warming up with the guards, and he's been a big "surprise" to Crimson Tide head coach Nate Oats.
  • Alabama guard Latrell Wrightsell Jr. looks like his sharpshooting self in the corner. Wrightsell missed most of last season after rupturing his Achilles against Oregon last November.
  • Alabama guard Labaron Philon takes some shots during the initial warmup period. The sophomore has high expectations to be Alabama's primary scorer and playmaker this season after withdrawing from the 2025 NBA Draft.

How to Watch: No. 15 Alabama vs. Florida State

Who: No. 15 Alabama (0-0, 0-0 SEC) vs. Florida State (5-0, 0-0 ACC)

What: Ballin in Boutwell exhibition

When: Thursday, Oct. 16, 7 p.m. CT

Where: Boutwell Auditorium, Birmingham, Ala.

TV: Hibbett Channel on YouTube

Radio: Crimson Tide Sports Network (Play-By-Play: Chris Stewart, Color: Bryan Passink). The pregame show will begin one hour prior to tipoff.

Series: The two programs are tied 8-8 with the first matchup occurring on Dec. 14, 1959.

Last meeting: The Crimson Tide fell to the Seminoles 60-51 on Nov. 27, 2009, in the Old Spice Classic in Orlando, Fla. Alabama didn't have a single player score in double figures, but JaMychal Green and Mikhail Torrance each tallied nine points. Green also led UA with eight rebounds, three steals and a block. But it was enough as Florida State's Chris Singleton and Solomon Alabi combined for 24 points, and Alabi had four blocks.

Last time out, Alabama: After falling to Florida in the SEC Tournament quarterfinal, Alabama received the 2-seed in the East Region of the NCAA Tournament and defeated Robert Morris, Saint Mary's and BYU before losing to 1-seed Duke in the Elite Eight. The Crimson Tide finished the season with a 28-9 (13-5 SEC) record. Alabama finished 2024-25 as the No. 6 team in the AP Top 25 and No. 6 in the Coaches Poll.

Last time out, Florida State: The Seminoles fell to Syracuse in the first round of the NIT Tournament. It was the final game of head coach Leonard Hamilton's tenure, as he had held his position since 2002-03. FSU finished the regular season with a 17-15 overall record, and its 8-12 slate against the SEC was good for eighth in the conference.

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Hunter De Siver
HUNTER DE SIVER

Hunter De Siver is the lead basketball writer for BamaCentral and has covered Crimson Tide football since 2024. He previously distributed stories about the NFL and NBA for On SI and was a staff writer for Missouri Tigers On SI and Cowbell Corner. Before that, Hunter generated articles highlighting Crimson Tide products in the NFL and NBA for BamaCentral as an intern in 2022 and 2023. Hunter is a graduate from the University of Alabama, earning a degree in sports media in 2023.

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