If you thought like me that the Tide would get challenged last night by Oakland, boy were we wrong. The Tide smashed Oakland 74-57 and it wasn’t even THAT close.

The Tide lead by as many as 23 in the second half and basically had no problem handling the Golden Grizzles. The Tide was led by JaMychal Green who scored 18 points, Trevor Releford added 14 and Tony Mitchell had 12 plus and nine rebounds

Green had to go out of the game with an injury and is probable for the game against Maryland Thursday.

The most impressive thing of the night was the play of the Bama freshman. Trevor Lacy came off the bench and scored 10 points, Rodney Cooper had six points, and Levi Randolph’s dunk with 14:38 left sparked a 10-0 run in the second half.

“All the freshmen just got used to each other and used to the rest of the team,” said Randolph who scored nine points.

The Tide’s defense suffocated Oakland with their defense holding them to 40 percent shooting and 57 points. This was a team last year that averaged 85 points per game.

Although it was an impressive victory, Tide head coach Anthony Grant wanted to remind fans and the media it was just one game.

“This is one game. Our guys played well tonight, but we have to understand we have good signs with our team. But I don't think this team has scratched the surface with how good we can be.”

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