The Stat Where Alabama Basketball Had Best Performance Since 2012

The Crimson Tide's defense was stout against Sam Houston, and it set a mark it hadn't eclipsed since Nate Oats coached at Romulus High School.

Alabama guard Qayden Samuels steals the ball in the second half of the game against Sam Houston on Nov. 3, 2026. | Sarah Munzenmaier/Alabama Crimson Tide on SI

TUSCALOOSA, Ala. — Just one game into the 2026-27 season, Alabama basketball accomplished something it hasn't done in 14 years.

During the 2019-20 and 2021-22 seasons — the early years of the Nate Oats era — the Crimson Tide forced 21 turnovers in a single game. Alabama forced Sam Houston to turn the ball over 23 times during the 96-74 season-opening victory. This broke the most recent team high of 22 against Georgia Tech during the 2011-12 season.

"I was coaching at Romulus [High School] at the time, so it's been a long time since we forced that many turnovers, which is great," Oats said during the postgame press conference. "I thought it was led by Brandon Garrison's pressure on their bigs. He got in there. The way they play through the bigs at the top, and Brandon's athleticism, defensive intensity and effort, really, to me, led the way. He got us going."

In addition to Garrison, what was Alabama doing to Sam Houston to accomplish this remarkable feat?

"Being bigger and more athletic than us," Sam Houston head coach Chris Mudge said during the postgame press conference. "Probably out of the 23, there were six where we made the right read, we just didn't complete the play. And they do a great job of having active hands on the basketball...To their credit, they played very physical and strong, and that I think sped us up in some ways that we have to get better in."

The Crimson Tide definitely took advantage of the takeaways, scoring 33 points — nearly one-third of its total output — off Sam Houston's turnovers. 17 of Alabama's takeaways stemmed from steals, an amount among the best of the Oats era.

Qayden Samuels led UA with four steals, while Brandon Garrison had three, Amari Allen, London Jemison and Keitenn Bristow, plus Tarris Bouie each snatched two and Jaxon Richardson and Anderson Diaz each added one to the stat sheet. Four of these players are freshman, including the leading Samuels.

"Kind of starting with Jaxon, who I think can really make stuff happen on defense," Oats said. "Tarris is a great athlete. Qayden's got a big, strong body and quick hands. Garrison's got very strong and really quick hands, which is a great combination. He had 10 deflections tonight, which is a ton. So, for your center to have 10 deflections, that's getting some stuff done.

"So I definitely think we're more equipped to cause some deflections. I think Anderson didn't play very well tonight, but he's got quick hands, quick feet. He can stay in front of guys and hopefully help us out defensively that way too.

"And then some of the guys maybe that aren't like as athletic—, but then we've got length everywhere too. So I think we could hopefully continue. Maybe we won't turn it over 23 times, but hopefully we continue to turn people over at a higher rate than we did last year."

Creating 23 turnovers is something very difficult to replicate. But the fact that Alabama did this in the season opener is a great sign of what's to come.