The Crimson Tide took control early on both sides of the ball to generate a massive momentum boost and continued to build it from there.

There is so much to analyze from this matchup at the Dean E. Smith Center. Here are three takeaways:

On Tuesday, Alabama head coach Nate Oats spoke about North Carolina’s guards, calling them “one of the better backfields in the country” as they averaged nearly 50 points between the three starters early in the game.

Those three guards are Preseason All-American RJ Davis, Seth Trimble and Elliot Cadeau, who lead the Tar Heels with 18.1, 16.4 and 14.4 points per game, respectively. Additionally, Trimble and Cadeau are shooting over 50 percent from the field.

However, with this combination of Davis and Trimble, Oats emphasized the defensive game plan to shoot 11 of 37, including 2 of 15 from long range. Meanwhile, Cadeau didn’t make a single field goal and shot just 1 of 3 from the line. So instead of averaging 48 combined points, the trio totaled 31 on just under 27 percent from the field.

Turns out the UNC guard trio wasn’t surprised Wednesday night, as the Crimson Tide’s big three in the backcourt shined from start to finish. Preseason All-American guard Mark Sears shot a team-best 7 of 14 from the field, while Labaron Philon and Aden Holloway combined for 15 points on 12 of 22 from downtown.

Specifically, Sears also dished out seven assists, Philon had another all-around game with four assists and rebounds, three steals and a block, and Holloway shot 5 of 9 from behind the arc. After former starter Latrell Wrightsell Jr. tore his Achilles tendon in the last game against Oregon, Oats said Holloway would likely receive an increase in minutes and be more involved in the game plan. Based on his numbers and solid performance, it appears this is already underway.

“I thought it was great,” Oats said of Holloway’s performance. “Obviously he’s a little upset with himself for the (five) turnovers.” His shot was incredible. I’m not saying that’s what we expected him to do, going 5 out of 9 every game, but we’ve seen him shoot like that in practice for a long time. So we know what he’s capable of shooting the ball… The shooting has been huge because Wrightsell has been our best shooter all year, so we need someone to step up and make some threes.”

Alabama showed a lot of positives early in the season, but there were some inconsistencies on defense. However, that wasn’t the case for much of the first half, helping Alabama extend its lead and early momentum.

After Wrightsell’s aforementioned season-ending injury, Oats burned guard Houston Mallette’s redshirt. Mallette, a transfer from Pepperdine now in his final year of eligibility, made the most of his first nearly three minutes on the floor in a crimson jersey, making his only three-point attempt and notching two steals.

In addition to Mallette’s steals, Sears also recorded two blocks, while forward Mouhamed Dioubate also hit one, and center Clifford Omoruyi logged two blocks and Philon grabbed one. Overall, the Tide’s defensive performance in the first half was notable as they forced nine turnovers, leading to a 43-34 score at halftime, including over 16 minutes of more points than the Tar Heels. Thanks to Alabama forwards Derrion Reid and Jarin Stevenson and others, UNC’s high-scoring guard trio combined for 15 points on 5 of 20 from the field at halftime.

“(Alabama defensive assistant Brian) Adams did a great job with the defensive game plan…I thought once we got our defense set, by and large the shots we were willing to give up were the shots they took and that They were too.” “I think our big guys did a great job of jumping vertically at the rim.”

Still, Oats doesn’t believe this was a perfect performance on the defensive side of the ball and wants to improve when it comes to returning to defense quicker and more efficiently.

“It wasn’t good in transition, especially in the first half,” Oats said. “We had 24 transition balls for them and they scored 29 of their points and got 1.21 (points per possession) and then they had to go in. “In a half-court (set) we had 39 points and 65 possessions for 0 .6 points per possession, which is the best half-court defense in the country.

“The problem is that we gave up so many players in transition, doing what they do best. We just have to come back better. They take away our transition, our second chance, our first shot, our half-court attack.” We had to make everything clear tonight. The transition needs to get better and then we need to be able to rebound the ball a little better.

Overall, the SEC/ACC Challenge wasn’t a difficult task for any league this year, as the Southeastern Conference went 14-2. No. 4 Kentucky’s surprise loss to Clemson and No. 2 Auburn’s loss to No. 9 Duke were the SEC’s only losses.

Believe it or not, South Carolina’s 5-3 record is the worst of any SEC team to start the season. Florida, Oklahoma and Tennessee are all undefeated, while the other programs in the conference are absolutely thriving. However, there are currently eight SEC teams ranked in Monday’s AP poll.

“It’s good for our league,” Oats said of the SEC’s performance over the last two days. “I think we have a really good basketball league. “It was pretty good when I got here. Auburn was coming off a Final Four. Clearly you have great traditions. Kentucky looks great. I know they suffered the loss last night, but they’ve done a great job so far this year. There’s talent throughout the league, so I think it’s great to play in a really good league like the ACC that has all kinds of great traditions.

“I think it’s obviously good because once you get to January, you’re just playing in the SEC. So you have to establish yourself as an incredibly great league outside of the conference, because then when we play all those teams, those games are lost by a long way.

Alabama’s No. 2 finish in the AP poll early in the season also helped ensure the Crimson Tide would also win the SEC Championship, as well as Sears being named SEC Player of the Year and Nelson earning a spot in the Preseason All -SEC Second Team.

In other words, the pressure was and is currently on Alabama, even though it is currently ranked fourth among SEC teams in the AP Poll. Regardless, the last two days have shown that the Crimson Tide needs to prepare particularly well for the rest of the conference in January.

Read more: Alabama guard Houston Mallette takes a redshirt leave and makes his debut against North Carolina