NEW YORK -- Alabama stole Oklahoma's identity Thursday night, holding it hostage for 35 of 40 minutes until the Sooners finally realized that to be national champions they couldn't just pretend to be tough.

But it was too late.

Alabama already had the game, and as a result the Crimson Tide left Madison Square Garden as the tougher team, the one that looked much more complete and ready to mount a campaign for a Final Four run.

It's only one game. In fact, it's the first game. But this is the snapshot that the nation got while watching the marquee game Thursday night.

"Alabama was tougher than we were,'' Oklahoma coach Kelvin Sampson said. "I was a bit embarrassed. Every player we have had over the past eight years would have been disappointed in the first 35 minutes. We've got to get back and find our identity.''

Harsh, but realistic words from Sampson after ESPN.com's preseason No. 1 team bowed out to the Tide 68-62 in the nightcap of the season-opening AT&T Wireless Classic.

Oklahoma wasn't the aggressor until the Sooners turned up their defensive pressure in a last-gasp try to get close. Hollis Price picked off a few steals to make an attempt to jump-start the defense, but he admitted after the game that taking nine shots isn't going to cut it for the Sooners. Not for a senior, an All-American who is supposed to be the heart and soul of the team.

Ebi Ere put up 24 Sooners points, but he missed 10 shots to get that number. Johnnie Gilbert looked like he was still in his medical redshirt season, unable to convert in a wild O-fer-five evening. Quannas White whiffed on three shots. Freshmen DeAngelo Alexander and Larry Turner didn't put up a point and Jabahri Brown wasn't as aggressive to the basket as Sampson would have liked from his center.

Reserve guard Blake Johnston provided about the only energy boost the Sooners got off the bench, even if he flung his body all over the place for four fouls, landing on the court on almost every over-zealous bump. Sampson singled out the Sooners' 10 offensive rebounds as yet another example of a weak effort.

"We're not going to overreact, but we've got to get better,'' Sampson said. "This is November, right?''

Yes.

Oklahoma lost at Michigan State in the second round of the Preseason NIT last season and still won at Connecticut, crushed Maryland at home and reached the Final Four. But Price was quick to distance himself from that scenario, saying the Sooners of last season had six newcomers who didn't know any better. This team has veterans that should, even if the frontcourt got exposed for its inexperience.

But the predictions are about April, not necessarily November, and Alabama is a better team than Oklahoma -- right now. We'll see if it lasts. The reasons were obvious Thursday night: Alabama had a veteran, senior power game up front with Erwin Dudley (12 points and eight boards) and Kenny Walker (14 points and seven boards). Sampson called them one of the best frontlines in the country.

Alabama coach Mark Gottfried sang Walker's praise throughout the preseason, hoping for him to get some love nationally. But it was the play of sophomore point Maurice Williams and energizer reserve Antoine Pettway that was the difference and could ultimately make the Tide a threat to get to New Orleans.

Pettway was hobbling the past few weeks but, according to Gottfried, would never admit to being injured. He didn't play like he was down one leg, making all five of his shots, including a 3-pointer, picking up three steals and dishing out four assists, even though he was the smallest player on the court at a generous listing of 6-foot.

Williams, much maligned for his 3-point shooting after shooting 26 percent as a freshman, didn't do much to change his percentage, going 2-for-7. But he made them count, breaking any momentum the Sooners had in mounting a comeback. Williams (25 points on 9-of-21 shooting) was as confident a player as any who has stepped onto the Garden court to open the season in Coaches vs. Cancer event.

He talked after the game about his commitment in the offseason to getting better, tougher, and more focused on his shot and overall game. He obviously wasn't lying. Williams pounded his chest every time he hit a big shot, was easily the Tide's leader and made freshman small forward Kennedy Winston's ineligibility pending a school investigation seem like a moot point.

Williams went into the locker room and said his player-of-the-game trophy was for the team, not him. It's a first step toward becoming a mature, unselfish point guard who could elevate his team, along with his game, this season.

Sampson is a big believer that Williams is benefiting from Rod Grizzard's poor decision to leave for the NBA draft last year (he's still trying to latch onto a team in the "D" league). Sampson's view as an outsider: Williams is getting and taking shots that would have gone to Grizzard last year. They might have shifted to Winston, too, but he will have to earn shots if he ever gets eligible.

Williams pointed to Gottfried's preparation for this game as the reason for the win.

Sampson, meanwhile, singled out his team's inflated impression of itself since getting back from Atlanta at the Final Four. He said his players were probably hearing too many people saying good things about them for too long. Price respectfully disagreed, saying he didn't see that permeate the team at the ground level, although he did admit Sampson has a better view from above.

"We might have turned it around in the last five minutes when we did look like Oklahoma,'' Sampson said of the lead getting trimmed from 18 to five in the second half. "But prior to that I was surprised and very disappointed. We've had poor shooting nights but not one where we gave that kind of effort.''

If that's all the Sooners have to correct, they'll be fine. If the Tide simply can blend in Winston and Lucky Williams (who is serving a 14-game suspension) by the SEC season, then the Tide will be a lot further along than anyone thought possible.

It's still November, and it's just one game, but it did show that Alabama has the toughness to beat a team like Oklahoma at its own game -- and that is something the Tide can fall back on for the whole season.

Andy Katz is a senior writer at ESPN.com.