The 6th ranked Alabama Crimson Tide scored early and often and absolutely demolished the 24th ranked Mississippi State Bulldogs by a score of 111-73 on Tuesday night in a home game. Alabama has bounced back with two decisive victories after a two game losing streak. The Tide improved to 23-5 overall and 12-3 in league play while the Dogs fell to 19-9 and 7-8 in the SEC.
Coach Nate Oats stayed with the starting lineup of Mark Sears, LaBaron Philon, Chris Youngblood, Grant Nelson, and Clifford Omoruyi. Mississippi State scored an early three, but Youngblood did them one better, making his first three and the following free throw for being fouled on the shot. A Bulldog basket gave them their last lead of the game at 5-4 with 16:30 left in the half.
Mo Dioubate and Sears hit back to back three’s and the Tide was off and running. Aiden Sherrell was inserted in the game and made a pair of free throws for 1 16-9 lead with 12:25 left in the period. Sears and Youngblood took turns knocking down three point baskets and with 4:38 left the lead had ballooned to 38-17 in the favor of the home team. Aden Holloway joined the long range party and made a three with 42 seconds left for a 50-25 lead with 42 seconds. Not to be outdone, Sears drained another three pointer to stake the Tide to a 53-27 lead at the break.
In the first half Bama shot 18-34 from the field for 53%, including 11-20 from behind the arc for a smooth 55%. In addition the Tide was 6-6 from the charity stripe. Alabama had 21 rebounds, 15 assists, three steals, no blocks, and seven turnovers. Youngblood was 4-5 from three point range and 4-4 at the free throw line for 16 points. Sears was 4-6 from long distance and had 12 points with five assists heading into the locker room. Dioubate scored seven points and snared eight rebounds in nine minutes of work.
The Bulldogs were held to 12-33 for 36%, with 2-12 from three point range, and also made 1-2 free throws. The Dogs grabbed 17 rebounds, had seven assists, four blocks, four steals, and nine turnovers. MSU had one player score seven points and three that scored six each in the half.
The Tide used the same starting five in the second half. Sears and Youngblood kept pouring it on from three and with 15:45 left in the game the score was 66-35 in favor of Alabama. Jarin Stevenson decided to join the long range parade, hitting two consecutive corner threes for a 71-38 lead with 13:50 remaining. Youngblood made hid sixth three point shot, Stevenson tossed in his third and Bama was toying with the Bulldogs. With 7:00 minutes left Youngblood drilled his seventh, and last, long range jumper. With two minutes left Holloway made his third three pointer to put the Tide over 100 points for the eighth time this season. Sherrell took and made a three of his own for the teams final points and the 111-73 victory.
In the second half Bama shot 19-37 for 51%, 11-25 for 44% from three, and 9-12 from the free throw line. Overall the Tide shot 37-71 for 52%, 22-45 for 49%, and 15-18 for 83% from the free throw line. Bama finished with 42 rebounds, 13 on the offensive boards, 28 assists, zero blocks, eight steals, and committed 11 turnovers. Player of the game Youngblood scored 27 points, shooting 7-11 from three point range. Sears had a double-double with 21 points and 10 assists, and snatched three steals, with three turnovers. Holloway scored 13 with five assists, Dioubate had a double-double of his own with 10 points and 11 rebounds and added three assists, all in just 17 minutes of action. Philon joined the quartet in double figures with 10 points and added five assists, and a steal. Stevenson was a perfect 3-3 and notched nine points. Nelson won the hard hat award, mostly for his defensive work, and scored six points with seven rebounds, and three steals. Omoruyi flirted with a double-double with eight points and eight rebounds in 19 minutes on the floor.
State shot 16-40 for 40% in the second half with 4-18 for 22% from deep, and made 10-13 at the free throw line for 77%. Overall the Dogs shot only 38% with 28-73 from the field and 20% from deep with 6-30 shooting. The Bulldogs were within one of the Tides rebound total with 41, had 14 assists, six blocks, eight steals, and fourteen turnovers- one of the few times Bama has won the turnover battle this season. MSU star guard Josh Hubbard was quite much of the game but used garbage time to stat pad his way to 21 points on 8-22 shooting with 3-12 from behind the arc. Keshawyn Murphy scored 18 and garnered 11 rebounds. RJ Melendez joined the pair in double figures with 11 points.
This was an impressive performance by the Tide. Youngblood is a Bulldog killer, his two best games in an Alabama jersey have been while facing Mississippi State. In the two games the senior from Tuscaloosa has shot 14-21 for 67% from three and has scored 50 points. In all other games Youngblood averages 8.4 points a game and is shooting 28-67 for 33% from three point range. After the game Oats was pleased with the defense of the team, except late in the second half ( when the team was cruising along with a 30-35 point lead). The Dog’s scored .750 points per possession in the first half, but upped it to 1.278 per possession in the second half. Nelson earned the hard hat award even though he sat out practice on Monday with a sore shin.
The defensive effort all game was noticeable, especially from Sears. The grad student was engaged and played as hard as we have seen during his time in Tuscaloosa. When asked about the defense in the second half, Sears offered “even when we are up big in the second half, we can’t have sympathy against the other team.” One of the most impressive plays of the night was Youngblood diving on a ball and skidding up the floor, while leading by 33 points. Youngblood is an extension of the coaching staff on the floor and has brought much needed toughness to the squad.
The 111 points were the most the Tide has scored in a game this season, eclipsing the 110 vs UNC Asheville on opening day back on November 4th. The 23 three pointers made were a season high. The victory was the 10th Quad One win for the Tide, second most in the nation. With Florida losing to Georgia on Tuesday night Alabama is alone in second place in the SEC.
Up next is a tough road trip to 4th ranked Tennessee on Saturday. The game will be played at 3 p.m. CT and will by shown on ESPN, followed by a home game with Florida on March 5th, and closing with a trip to Auburn on March 8th to complete the regular season.
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Blue Collar Basketball
