JaMychal Green, making his first start since a three-game suspension, had 16 points and 15 rebounds to lead Alabama to a 59-38 victory over Southeastern Louisiana on Wednesday night.
''I felt like I was aggressive tonight,'' said Green, who had his 15th career double-double. ''I was rebounding tonight. It felt good to be back out on the court. I felt like it was a new start for me. I'm just trying to turn everything around and move on.''
Trevor Releford had 10 points for the Crimson Tide (5-5). Gary Dixon led the Lions with 11 points.
The win followed road losses at No. 22 Purdue and Providence. It was the second best defensive effort of the season for the Crimson Tide, which allowed 37 points in a victory over Florida A&M on Nov. 12.
Alabama took a 25-9 lead when Senario Hillman made a free throw at the 7:33 mark.
The Crimson Tide made 10 of their first 16 shots from the field (62.5 percent) and four of their first six 3-point attempts (66.7 percent).
''I thought our defense set the tone tonight,'' Grant said. ''It was good to see the unselfishness our team displayed tonight and for the ball to go inside.''
Southeastern Louisiana (5-3) shot 20.3 percent from the field (12 of 59) after shooting 12.5 percent (4 of 32) in the second half.
David Ndoumba scored seven of the Lions' first nine points, but finished with nine.
''Not that this team is easy to defend by any means, but for about 18 minutes we blocked out beautifully and then David Ndouma totally seemed incapable, as did most other people, of keeping JaMychal Green off the glass,'' Southeastern Louisiana coach Jim Yarbrough said. ''I think our team is too immature right now. They seem to collapse at times under the weight of not scoring instead of continuing to defend.''
Alabama led 36-23 at halftime.
The Crimson Tide started the second half with a 15-7 run to extend its lead to 51-30 on Hillman's dunk with 11:22 to play. The Crimson Tide's largest lead was 59-36 with 46 seconds left.
Green was 6 of 11 from the field and had six offensive rebounds.
Asked if Green was back in his good graces, Grant said, ''He's done the things that I've asked him to do. As he mentioned, it's about our basketball team moving forward. He's done a really good job for us on a daily basis.''
