Alabama
11-5,3-0SEC
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Mississippi State
12-4,1-2SEC
Alabama’s Defense Pulls Out Road Win at Mississippi State, 82-74
1/13/2024 11:27:00 PM | Men's Basketball
The Crimson Tide hold the Bulldogs scoreless for the final two minutes of regulation
STARKVILLE, Miss. – For the third time under head coach Nate Oats, the Alabama men's basketball team improved to 3-0 in the Southeastern Conference with an 82-74 win on the road over Mississippi State Saturday night at Humphrey Coliseum. The Crimson Tide's (11-5, 3-0 SEC) defense sealed the victory as UA did not allow the Bulldogs to score for the final 2:42 of the game.
Alabama's backcourt was dominant against Mississippi State (12-4, 1-2 SEC) with Mark Sears (22 points), Latrell Wrightsell Jr. (19 points) and Rylan Griffen (17 points) combining to score 58 of UA's 82 points on the night.
The Bulldogs had three players score double-figures led by Tolu Smith III's 15 points.
Head Coach Nate Oats Postgame Comments
"This is a tough place and to get a win. Coach Jans is one of the best coaches in the country with coaching defense and toughness. This is one of the tougher teams and you saw that when they beat Tennessee here. For us to come in here and get a big win is huge. We had some guys really step up defensively I thought Latrell (Wrightsell Jr.) was one of them. I thought Grant Nelson's defense on Tolu (Smith III) was huge for us and Rylan (Griffen) is starting to come around and really guard and is playing well. Obviously, it wasn't one of our better offensive games but it is good to win on the road when you don't play great on offense all the time. We made free throws too; our four guards went 16/16 from the FT line. Between Latrell, Rylan, Mark (Sears) and Aaron (Estrada) they didn't miss a free throw. A lot of positives, we had them outrebounded for the majority of the game, we ended up losing by one but for a team that rebounds as well as they do, I thought that we did a really great job most of the game."
TEAM STATS
- Alabama is one of two teams (Auburn) that is 3-0 in SEC play
- Nate Oats is 3-0 in the SEC for the third time during his UA tenure
- Mark Sears recorded his eighth 20-point game of the season with a game-high 22 points
- Alabama's 82 points is the most points Mississippi State has allowed in a game this season
- The Crimson Tide is the only team to score 70 points or more in three games against Mississippi State during the Chris Jans era
- Alabama scored 18 fastbreak points while not allowing MSU to record a fastbreak point
- UA shot 84 percent (22-26) from the free throw line while MSU was 55 percent (15-27) from the charity stripe
- Grant Nelson flirted with a double-double posting nine points and nine rebounds along with three blocks, three steals and an assist
- Rylan Griffen and Latrell Wrightsell Jr. were the only players in the game with double-digit plus-minus as the duo were each a +11 for the game
FIRST HALF
- The first 20 minutes featured five lead changes and was tied twice
- Mississippi State started out the game shooting 60 percent on its first 10 possessions, jumping out to a 15-8 lead in the first six minutes of the contest
- The Tide chipped away at Mississippi State's lead, going on a 9-0 run holding MSU scoreless for nearly three minutes, tying the game (15-15) with just over 11 minutes in the half
- Latrell Wrightsell Jr. hit a trio of makes of three-point range, matching his season-high in a game
- Mississippi State shot 53 percent in the first half, while holding Alabama to 42 percent
- The Crimson Tide scored 13 points off the Bulldogs' eight turnovers
- Alabama went into the break with a 40-38 lead
SECOND HALF
- Mississippi State led 43-42 and the Tide went on a 9-0 run to retake the lead
- Midway through the half Alabama made 6-8 field goals to take its largest lead of the game to that point, 56-47
- Alabama went on a scoring draught for the next three-plus minutes that allowed the Bulldogs to regain the lead at 70-69 with 4:32 remaining
- With the contest tied at 74-all with 2:42 left, Alabama's defense held Mississippi State scoreless for the remainder of the game, outscoring MSU 8-0, to result in the final score
- In the final three minutes, the Bulldogs went 0-6 from the free throw line while Alabama converted all six of its attempts from the charity stripe
UP NEXT
- Alabama will return to Tuscaloosa as UA welcomes Missouri Tuesday night at Coleman Coliseum
- The Crimson Tide and Tigers will tip-off at 6 p.m. CT with the contest airing live on the SEC Network
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