Alabama basketball did what it was supposed to Saturday in Tuscaloosa, blowing out Georgia 90-69. The Crimson Tide, the No. 4 team in the country, is heading into its bye week, and the big win over the unranked Bulldogs could be a momentum-builder moving forward.

“Unbelievable effort from our guys,” Alabama head coach Nate Oats said after the game. “Really the effort we’ve been looking for outside of the start to the second half.. You take that four minutes out, which I wasn’t very happy with that effort, but the other 36 minutes, I thought we played really hard.”

Oats’ team moved to 19-3 on the season, 10-1 in SEC play with the win. The Tide will be back in action next Saturday, traveling to Arkansas.

Before that, here’s what to know from the Georgia win.

Turnover troubles, defensive improvement

Alabama was more talented than Georgia. The Crimson Tide was also deeper than the Bulldogs.

But UA couldn’t stay out of its own way early.The first half was plagued with turnovers, 13 of them from the Crimson Tide.

Fortunately for Alabama, the Bulldogs weren’t able to fully capitalize. UGA turned the turnovers into just four points, and the Tide led 39-28 at halftime.

Alabama finished the game with 20 turnovers, but the Bulldogs only scored nine points off of them.

“It’s gonna come back to to bite us if we don’t get it fix,” Oats said of the turnover problem. “Especially on the road.”

A concern for Oats entering the Georgia game was the way opponents’ best scorers had been torching Alabama for 30+ points on a routine basis this season. That improved against the Bulldogs, with UA holding leading scorer Asa Newell to 16 and keeping UGA to .908 points per possession and .737 in the first half.

The Bulldogs weren’t built to beat Alabama stylistically, and didn’t have the sort of elite guards who have given the Tide fits. Still, UA seemed improved defensively.

Aiden Sherrell makes an impact

Entering Saturday’s game, Aiden Sherrell hadn’t done much for Alabama this season. The 6-foot-10 freshman forward had played sparingly through the SEC schedule, seeing double-digit minutes only twice during conference play.

He came off the bench earlier than usual against Georgia, and made his presence known. Sherrell hit a three-pointer, then ran down the court and got a defensive rebound to spark the Crimson Tide.

Sherrell played well throughout the first half. He hit another three on the way to 10 points before the break, along with three rebounds.

“We were in the flow,” Sherrell said. “My teammates found me and I was creating for others. It just all comes with the work that we’ve been putting into practice.”

After the break, Sherrell was less impactful. He finished the game with 12 points and seven rebounds, in 20 minutes of action.

However, if he’s able to become a major scoring and rebounding threat off the bench, it makes an already deep Alabama team even better coming down the stretch in SEC play.

Mark’s back

Last time Mark Sears saw the court in Coleman Coliseum, he was getting benched for the second half of Alabama’s win over LSU. After upping his practice intensity and returning to the lineup at Mississippi State, Sears was again starting at home Saturday.

It took him a while to get going, until the 5:23 mark in the first half to make his first basket. But once he did, the Muscle Shoals native made a huge impact for the Crimson Tide.

“Just playing hard,” Sears said of his mentality. “Just making the right plays and just not forcing things and just letting it come.”

When the Crimson Tide poured it on in the second half, Sears’ offensive revitalization was a major reason why. He finished with 20 points, leading Alabama in scoring.

Sears also contributed five rebounds and six assists.