No. 6 Alabama survived what could have easily been the upset of the year in a 97-90 shootout over North Dakota.

Wednesday night was probably not the homecoming that Alabama forward Grant Nelson was expecting. On his return to his home state, his Crimson Tide team found themselves in a shootout with the Fighting Hawks of North Dakota. 

The Crimson Tide scored 62 points in the second half after trailing by three at halftime, and every one of the 62 points was needed. North Dakota went shot-for-shot with Alabama in the second half, scoring 52 points on 18 field goals with 11 of the shots being 3-pointers.

“We got to do a better job defensively,” Alabama head coach Nate Oats said. “They had 16 offensive rebounds and 20 second chance points. We got to have some guys rebound the ball a little bit better when they’re in.” 

Nelson made major contributions on the offensive and defensive ends in front of family and friends. Nelson scored 23 points on 9-for-14 shooting and added five free throws to his total. Of his 23 points, Nelson scored 15 of them in the second half including three made free throws to help secure an Alabama victory.

Nelson reflected on what it was like getting the chance to help secure a victory in front of friends and family, “It was great to play in front of my hometown fans and all the people who supported me coming up through my basketball career,” Nelson said.

On the defensive end, Nelson grabbed a team-high 10 rebounds on the night, with eight of his rebounds coming on the defensive end. 

Alabama point guard Mark Sears also scored 15 of his 23 points in the second half. Sears hit two 3-pointers down the stretch to keep the Crimson Tide in the lead late in the game. Alabama guard Labaron Philon scored in double figures yet again Wednesday. The freshman scored 13 of his 15 points on 5-for-7 shooting and 2-for-4 from 3-point range in the second half.

Alabama’s turnovers held the Crimson Tide back in the first half. Alabama turned the ball over 13 times in the first half, which turned into eight points for North Dakota. The turnovers created a lack of offensive rhythm in the first half as Alabama shot just 28% from beyond the arc. 

Despite his offensive output, Nelson expressed his frustration with the team’s performance.

“We played awful pretty much the whole game,” Nelson said. We came in and we didn’t take these guys as seriously. We got yelled at like we should’ve, but they played great and they will win a lot of games.”

In the second half, the Crimson Tide turned the ball over just one time in the second half as it shot 20-for-34 from the field after halftime and contributed to the offensive showcase in the second half.

Free throws also plagued the Crimson Tide in its win. Alabama shot just 67% from the stripe on 20-for-30 shooting. Missed free throws in the second half prevented the Crimson Tide from building a big lead and helped North Dakota stay in the game.

Despite the huge second half from the offense, North Dakota guard Treysen Eaglestaff was able to keep up with the offensive shot making from Alabama. Eaglestaff scored 40 points for the Fighting Hawks on 15-for-30 shooting including hitting eight 3-pointers. 

Eaglestaff scored 26 in the second with six of his eight made threes coming after half. Eaglestaff became the first mid-major player to score 40 or more against a power conference school since 2012.

“Our matchup on Eaglestaff was not great to start, I don’t know if we ever found the correct matchup because he ended up with 40

While North Dakota came into the game with a 4-8 record, Wednesday night’s shooting performance showed that the Fighting Hawks can play better than what their record says.

Up next, Alabama returns home to take on Kent State on Sunday. The Crimson Tide and the Golden Flashes tip off at 12 p.m. CT.