In the first-ever meeting between No. 24 Alabama and Indiana State, the Crimson Tide rolled to a 102-80 home win behind the trio of Aaron Estrada, Grant Nelson and Mark Sears in Tuscaloosa, Ala.
Estrada had 22 first-half points and finished with 27 points, five rebounds and five assists.
Nelson left the game late in the first half with a cut over his eye, but he returned and recorded 20 points and eight boards.
Sears chipped in 24 points, four rebounds and two assists, while Jarin Stevenson (10 points) and Latrell Wrightshell Jr. (eight points) were solid off the bench for the Crimson Tide (2-0).
Isaiah Swope had 15 first-half points and finished with 17 for Indiana State.
Ryan Conwell added a double-double (16 points, 10 rebounds), while Julian Larry had 15 points, three rebounds and two assists.
Jayson Kent tallied 14 points, while Derek Vorst (eight points, two rebounds) and Jake Wolfe (nine points) were productive off the bench for the Sycamores (1-1).
Indiana State jumped out to an early 9-0 lead on two threes from Conwell and a 3-pointer from Swope, but a 3-pointer by Rylan Griffen and two threes from Estrada tied the game at 9-9 with 15:07 to go in the opening half.
Behind red-hot shooting from Swope, the Sycamores held a 28-26 with a shade under seven minutes to play until halftime. A 7-0 run by Alabama made the score 39-31 with 3:47 to play in the opening stanza. Two free throws by Sears concluded the half with the Crimson Tide up 48-37.
A Sears 3-pointer and a layup by Nelson put Bama up 63-49 with 15:06 to play in the second half.
Indiana State got reckless with fouls, and Alabama was in the bonus with less than 14 minutes to play in the second half — while maintaining a 63-52 lead.
Estrada made a driving layup with 8:48 to play to put the Crimson Tide up 80-67 with 8:48 to go in the game. An 11-2 run put Alabama up 91-72 with 5:38 to play in the game.
–Field Level Media
