Alabama
18-3,7-1SEC
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#14 Mississippi State
16-5,4-4SEC
No. 4/4 Alabama Outlasts No. 14/13 Mississippi State, 88-84, Wednesday Night on the Road
1/29/2025 11:52:00 PM | Men's Basketball
The Crimson Tide were led by Chris Youngblood’s season-high 23 points
STARKVILLE, Miss. – For the third time this season, the No. 4/4 Alabama men's basketball team came away with a road win over an Associated Press top-15 opponent, defeating No. 14/13 Mississippi State 88-84, Wednesday night at Humphrey Coliseum. With the win, Alabama head coach Nate Oats has tied Wimp Sanderson's record for most AP top-25 wins in program, capturing his 25thvictory.
Alabama's (18-3, 7-1 SEC) Chris Youngblood put on a performance scoring a team-high 23 points, setting a new career-high with seven three-pointers while Mark Sears recorded a game-high nine assists. The Crimson Tide's duo of Sears (12 points) and Youngblood (11 points) combined to score 23 of Alabama's 44 points in the second half.
Mississippi State (16-5, 4-4 SEC) was led by Josh Hubbard scoring a career-high 38 points, shooting 14-28 from the field.
Head Coach Nate Oats Postgame Comments
"That was quite the game if you like big shot-making, this was a good game to be at. (Josh) Hubbard is pretty good and we didn't do a very good job on him, but he made some tough shots. I thought Chris (Youngblood) stepped up because he said let me take him and I thought he did the best job of anybody. He (Hubbard) went for 38 points so we have to do a better job, but we made some big plays elsewhere to make up for the fact that we didn't do a good job on Hubbard and we didn't shoot well from the free throw line. They are a tough team and have some of the toughest guys in the league in my opinion. I thought Cliff's (Omoruyi) block saved the game in my opinion because it would have put them up one point with under 30 seconds left. I thought a lot of guys made a lot of big plays and (Mark Sears) had a great bounce back game. A lot of big plays and a huge road win over a really good team."
Team Stats
- Alabama won its 25th game over an AP top-25 opponent under head Nate Oats, tying Wimp Sanderson's program record
- The Crimson Tide captured its third win over an AP top-15 team this year on the road
- Alabama tied its program record for most AP top-25 wins in a season, winning its seventh of the season
- Alabama had three players score double-figures led by Chris Youngblood's 23 points
- Mark Sears led all players with a game-high nine assists to go along with his 15 points
- The Tide outrebounded the Bulldogs 41-35 led by Mouhamed Dioubate's nine rebounds
First Half
- Chris Youngblood led Alabama in the first half with 12 points, converting four three-pointers
- Alabama's bench was effective in its minutes, combining for a +32 on UA's plus-minus
- Half of Alabama's 10 assists in the first half came from Mark Sears, recording five
- Mississippi State was led by Josh Hubbard's 13 points in the first half
- Alabama's bench was exceptional to start the game, scoring 13 of its first 18 points of the game led by Labaron Philon's five points
- Late in the half the Tide would go on a 10-3 run, taking a 35-27 lead at the 5:36-mark
- Mississippi State responded with a 7-0 to tie the game at 37-all with two minutes left in the half
- Alabama ended the half on a 6-2 run to go into halftime with a 44-39 lead
Second Half
- Alabama shot 66 percent in the second half from three-point range, led by Youngblood's trio of makes
- The Tide scored eight points off Mississippi State's four turnovers while the Bulldogs scored three points off Alabama's nine turnovers
- Sears and Aden Holloway kickstarted Alabama's offense in the second half, scoring 15 of UA's first 19 points in the half
- The Bulldogs took its first lead of the half (65-64) at the 10:14-mark
- With the game tied at 80-80 with just under four minutes left Alabama took the lead off a Grant Nelson three-pointer, giving the Tide an 83-80 lead with 2:30 left in the game
- Alabama would never relinquish the lead to come away with the 88-84 victory
Up Next
- Alabama will return home to face Georgia on Saturday, Feb. 1, at Coleman Coliseum
- Tipoff is set for 3 p.m. CT and will be televised on the SEC Network
