Mississippi State was ready to play when 4th ranked Alabama rolled into town tonight, but the Tide got it done 88-84.
Things started out a bit precariously, as Mississippi State point guard Josh Hubbard buried a couple of early threes to put the Tide in an early hole. Alabama kept battling though, on offense anyway. The defense left plenty to be desired. In any case, Chris Youngblood hit four threes in the first half to lead Alabama to a 44-39 lead.
Hubbard continued to dominate in the second half, finishing with 38 points on 28 shots. I don’t know what Nate is going to have to do for these guys to play consistent defense, but fortunately the offense was strong enough tonight to pull out the win. Youngblood led the way with 23 points on 7-10 three point shooting, Mark Sears added 17 with nine points, Grant Nelson 14 and Aden Holloway 12.
The Bulldogs are a tough opponent and that should be taken into consideration, but it feels like yet another night when we’re saying that the Tide will have to play better in order to reach all of its goals.
Roll Tide.
