Alabama
20-8,12-3SEC
Ole Miss
19-9,6-9SEC
Second Half Comeback Lifts No. 14/13 Alabama Past Ole Miss, 103-88
2/28/2024 11:25:00 PM | Men's Basketball
Aaron Estrada collects the fourth triple-double in program history to lead the Crimson Tide to its 20th win of the season
OXFORD, Miss. – Alabama's Aaron Estrada became the third player in program history to record a triple-double as he helped lead the No. 14/13 Crimson Tide men's basketball team past Ole Miss, 103-88, Wednesday night on the road at the SJB Pavilion. With the victory, UA earned its 20th win of the year (20-8, 12-3 SEC) and has now recorded back-to-back 20-win seasons for the first time since 2012-13.
Behind Estrada's performance, Alabama erased a 14-point first half deficit to come back from double digits on the road for the second time in SEC play (won at Georgia). However, it wasn't only Estrada's play that helped lift the team to the win, as Mark Sears scored a team-high 26 points while Davin Cosby came off the bench to contribute a career-best 15 points on 5-of-10 shooting from deep.
The Rebels (19-9, 6-9) were led by Allen Flanigan's 28 points off the bench, while Jaemyn Brakefield added 21 points.
Head Coach Nate Oats Postgame Comments
"A lot of credit to their (Ole Miss) coaching staff. They were ready to come out and play and we did not do a great job at the start of the game. They were obviously much more ready to play than we were. I give them a lot of credit for having their guys ready to go and we need to do a better job on defense out of the gate. We got down 14 points, and I thought our guys showed a ton of character and a lot of grit. We were down 16 at Georgia, so we've done this before and we have been able to come back. I thought our defense really kicked in the gear and we were able to take a lead and build it up."
TEAM STATS
- Aaron Estrada collected the fourth triple-double in school history, joining Kira Lewis Jr., who did it most recently in 2019, and Roy Rogers who did it twice in his career
- Estrada was an efficient 7-11 shooting from the field, grabbed four of his 10 boards on the offensive glass and had just one turnover on his 10 dimes, and also collected a game-high four steals
- Mark Sears has scored 20 or more points in 18 games this season, the most since James "Hollywood" Robinson in 1993
- Alabama has now scored 100 or more points nine times this season which matches the most in SEC history (Kentucky 1995-96)
- The Tide has now scored 90 or more in five consecutive SEC games, becoming the first team to achieve the feat since Arkansas in 1993-94
- Five UA players finished in double digits as Rylan Griffen (14) and Nick Pringle (10) also contributed on offense
- Alabama had a 14-7 edge on the offensive glass resulting in a 20-7 lead in second chance points
- The Tide finished with 25 assists on 35 made baskets, including 17 on 21 makes in the second half
FIRST HALF
- Mark Sears led all scorers with 15 points in the first half
- Ole Miss shot 51 percent from the field led by Allen Flanigan's 12 points
- The Rebels' biggest lead in the first half was 14 points (37-23) at the 5:03 mark
- Alabama ended the final 4:39 of the half on a 13-5 run including a three-pointer as time expired to cut the lead to three, 42-39, at intermission
SECOND HALF
- Alabama outscored Ole Miss, 64-46, over the final 20 minutes as four players (Griffen 14, Estrada 13, Cosby 12, Sears 11) finished in double figures
- Early in the second half, Alabama went on an 8-0 run to take a 57-49 lead at the 14:45-mark
- Rylan Griffen caught fire, scoring all 14 of his points in the first 12 minutes of the second half
- Leading by two, the Tide would go on a 17-6 run to take its largest lead at 87-74 with 4:47 left to play
UP NEXT
- Alabama will host Tennessee on Saturday for a 7 p.m. CT tipoff at Coleman Coliseum
- The Crimson Tide will host College Gameday, airing at 11 a.m. CT on ABC
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