Alabama
16-6,8-1SEC
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Mississippi State
14-8,3-6SEC
Offensive Onslaught Propels No. 24/22 Alabama Past Mississippi State 99-67
2/3/2024 11:00:00 PM | Men's Basketball
Freshmen Mouhamed Dioubate and Jarin Stevenson each record career-high points to lead a balanced offensive attack
TUSCALOOSA, Ala. – The No. 24/22 Alabama men's basketball team ended the first half on a 21-4 run and went on to dominate Mississippi State 99-67 Saturday night inside Coleman Coliseum. With the win, the Crimson Tide (16-6, 8-1 SEC) holds onto first place in the league standings while capturing its 14th consecutive SEC home win.
Four Alabama players scored in double-figures led by Mark Sears' 21 points - his 13th game of 20 or more points this season. Aaron Estrada added 15 points and eight rebounds while freshmen Mouhamed Dioubate (14) and Jarin Stevenson (14) each recorded career-high points in the win.
The Bulldogs (14-8, 3-6 SEC) were led by Tolu Smith III with 23 points and five rebounds
Head Coach Nate Oats Postgame Comments
"We have been asking our guys to put both sides of the ball together for all two halves all season and that's been the closest we've come. This is a tough team in Mississippi State. They've been outrebounded twice all year and tonight was one of them. We challenged our guys with rebounding after Georgia because it was awful, but we did a great job tonight bouncing back. Mouhamed Dioubate played really well against Mississippi State at their place and we got him for almost 20 minutes tonight. He led us in rebounding and was one rebound away from a double-double and that's the best game he's probably played all year. He's getting more comfortable, getting tougher, playing a spacing big like Grant at the five helps us be able to play Dioubate little bit more at the four. We challenged our guys, I thought we were a little soft at Georgia with the rebounds and defense to start to the game. They answered that pretty well. I respect Mississippi State, as much as anybody else in this league. I coached against Coach James back in the MAC and he's always had one of the hardest playing teams in his league and still does. They were a little banged up, DJ (Jeffries) didn't play in the second half. I thought for playing a tough, hard-nosed, blue-collar team like Mississippi State we did great. For a game when we didn't shoot it particularly great, and didn't get to the free throw line, we made a lot of other things go well. We're getting our guys to play a little bit more aggressive, harder, and more assertive on defense. Overall, this is a really compliant group so when we make points that we need to improve on, they have done a pretty good job of building on it."
TEAM STATS
- The 99 points scored by Alabama marks the team's 10th game this season of scoring 90-or-more in a game
- Alabama has won 14-straight SEC home game at Coleman, the longest winning streak since 1988
- The 29 first-half three point attempts is a season-high for attempts in a singular half
- UA also shot a season-high 48 three-point attempts in the win
- Jarin Stevenson (14) and Mouhamed Dioubate (14) both scored a career-high with Dioubate also collecting a career-high nine rebounds
- The Crimson Tide went a perfect 10-of-10 from the free throw line
- For just the second time this season, Mississippi State was outrebounded (48-37)
- This is Alabama's eighth 30-point win over an SEC opponent under head coach Nate Oats
FIRST HALF
- The Crimson Tide outscored the Bulldogs 29-8 over the final 10 and a half minutes, turning an 18-16 lead into a 23-point halftime lead (47-24)
- Jarin Stevenson led UA at the half with 11 points on a perfect 4-of-4 from the field, including knocking down all three of his treys
- Alabama's bench outscored its counterpart 22-4 in the opening half and obtained a 18-2 points off turnover advantage
- The Tide attempted a season-high 29 threes with Sears (3), Stevenson (3) and Griffen (2) combining to hit all eight of the team's three-pointers in the stanza
- In comparison, Mississippi State failed to hit a three-pointer in the first half (0-6)
SECOND HALF
- Alabama continued its dominance, outscoring Mississippi State, 52-43
- The lead increased to as many as 34 points, the last coming on a Kai Spears' three-pointer to give the Tide a 99-65 lead in the final seconds
- Mark Sears scored 12 of his 21 points in the second half
UP NEXT
- The Crimson Tide returns to action Wednesday when it travels to Auburn, Ala., to square off aat No. 16/16 Auburn in Neville Arena
- Alabama won the first matchup between the instate rivals, taking a 79-75 win over then-No. 6/6 Auburn inside Coleman Coliseum back on Jan. 24
- The game is slated for a 6 p.m. CT tipoff and will air live on ESPN2
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