The jacket never came off.
Avery Johnson's three-piece suit remained intact throughout his Alabama coaching debut. It got a little hot on the sideline in the second half of the 77-64 win over Kennasaw State, though.
The Crimson Tide flashed potential while reminding the opening-night crowd there was work to do. Racing to a 17-point lead in the first half, shooting struggled after halftime. But Retin Obasohan and freshman Dazon Ingram had the scoring to keep Kennesaw State from the upset.
Ingram, who earned the start in his debut, dropped 16 while Obasohan led the way with 18.
On Thursday, Ingram said he got all the jitters out in last week's exhibition win. That wasn't the case, though.
"At first I had a little bit of nerves," he admitted after the game. "As the game went on, it started to wear off and as we started to play fast like we're supposed to, it just all went away."
Ingram scored 12 of his 16 after halftime. Owl Yonel Brown went for 34 points in the losing effort.
Shannon Hale added 13 points for Alabama in his first game since a season-ending foot injury ended last year prematurely.
Obasohan scored a quick 11 in the opening moments, then finished with seven late in the win.
Alabama (1-0) shot 50.9 percent from the field while outscoring the guests 25-8 in points off turnovers. The Tide finished with 11 steals.
Kennesaw State got as close as seven points in the second half before Alabama made enough from the free-throw line to ease into the win. The foul shots were an issue, Johnson noted, as it made just 15 of 27 (55.6 percent).
None of it bothered Johnson enough to scrap the jacket, though. That's not his style.
"I keep my jacket on the entire game," Johnson said. "I love keeping my jacket on. The only time it's going to come off is after a game, unless maybe the 20th game of the year or something crazy happens on a road trip."
You don't get hot?
"Don't get hot at all."