CHAPEL HILL, N.C.. – No. 10 Alabama rolled past No. 20 North Carolina in a rematch of last season’s Sweet 16 matchup 94-79.

It was an impressive performance on both the offensive and defensive end for the Crimson Tide. The Crimson Tide jumped out to a 9-point halftime lead and kept its foot on the gas in the second half, pushing the lead up to 17 points multiple times throughout the second half.

Alabama was in the driver seat for almost the entire game. The Crimson Tide was in the lead for over 36 minutes out while it only trailed for just two of the 40 minutes in the game.

Alabama held the Tar Heels to 41% shooting from the field, but where the Crimson Tide especially suffocated North Carolina defensively was the perimeter. Alabama held North Carolina to 5-for-28 shooting from beyond the arc (17.8%).

Alabama head coach Nate Oats gave his assessment on Alabama’s defensive performance, “I thought once we got our defense set, shots we were willing to give up are pretty much the shots that they took, and they were contested jumpers,” Oats said.

The Crimson Tide additionally forced 13 turnovers that turned into nine Alabama points. Though Alabama was outrebounded 42-40, forwards Grant Nelson and Derrion Reid grabbed nine and seven rebounds, respectively, which helped extend Alabama’s lead throughout the game.

On the offensive end, six Crimson Tide players finished the game scoring in double figures. Point guard Mark Sears led the team with 20 points on 7-for-14 shooting and added seven assists to his total Wednesday night.

Sears started the game sharp out the gate, hitting five of his first six shots and tallying 11 of Alabama’s first 21 points of the game. 

Though Sears’ scoring slowed down, guards Labaron Philon and Aden Holloway continued the scoring for the Crimson Tide. Philon got to the rim early and often in the game, scoring 15 points on 7-for-12 shooting with four assists. 

While Philon got it done in the paint, Holloway got it done from the perimeter. All of Holloway’s 15 points came from the 3-point line, going 5-for-9 from downtown. 

“His shooting was unbelievable,” Oats said. “I don’t want to say this is what we expected, to go 5-for-9 every game, but we’ve seen him shoot it like this in practice for a long time.”

The one area Alabama struggled again was in the turnover column. The Crimson Tide committed 14 turnovers that turned into 17 Tar Heel points. Alabama had four turnovers with four minutes remaining before halftime, but turned the ball over three consecutive times to allow North Carolina to cut the halftime deficit to nine.

Pepperdine transfer guard Houston Mallette made his season debut for Alabama Wednesday. Mallette was a redshirt in the early stages of this season, but made his first appearance after burning his redshirt in the wake of Alabama guard Latrell Wrightsell Jr.’s season-ending achilles injury.

Mallette gave the Crimson Tide productive minutes off the bench, scoring six points off two 3-points field goals and grabbing three rebounds in his nine minutes of play.

“Houston [Mallette] was unselfish enough to come off as a redshirt and come in, and we were plus-12 in his nine minutes,” Oats said.

Up next, the Crimson Tide will have 10 days to wait for its next game when Alabama returns to Tuscaloosa for a home game against Creighton. The two teams met last season in Omaha where Alabama came within a field goal shy of a win. Alabama and Creighton tip off at 7:30 p.m. CT on December 14.