New uniforms. Same elite offense.
Donning its new Block-A throwback uniforms, Alabama men’s basketball fought its way to a 100-75 victory over the Texas A&M Aggies on Saturday.
This is the eighth game this season that the Crimson Tide has scored at least 100 points, extending the program record of five that Alabama broke earlier this season.
With former football head coach Nick Saban in attendance and the entire student section wearing the white throwback jerseys with guard Mark Sears’ name and number on the back, he put up a game-high 23 points, along with four rebounds, four assists and three steals.
One of his assists came in the form of a no-look pass to Grant Nelson, leading to a dunk that sparked the Crimson Tide’s momentum heading into the locker room.
Sears entered the contest averaging an SEC-best 20.5 points per game. The Muscle Shoals native was also named to the Naismith Trophy midseason team just two days prior to the contest.
“Bucket-getter,” guard Latrell Wrightsell Jr. said of Sears postgame. “There isn’t much more I can say. It’s hard to stop him. With the offense we’ve got, it’s free-flowing for him.”
Along with Sears, Wrightsell also added to his growing list of impressive offensive performances this season.
After going scoreless in the first half, he scored 16 points in the second half, going 4-8 from downtown and picking up three steals.
“I came into the second half with a better [mentality] and came in ready to shoot the ball,” Wrightsell said. “It just worked for me.”
Alabama hit 18 total 3-pointers, while the Aggies made just four despite 23 attempts.
One area that the Crimson Tide struggled with, however, was the glass. Alabama allowed the Aggies to grab 26 offensive rebounds, leading to 21 second-chance points.
Texas A&M leads the nation in offensive rebounding, averaging over 17 per game.
“While [26 offensive rebounds] is a lot, considering the way they score, we managed it well with 16 second-chance points ourselves,” Alabama head coach Nate Oats said. “We obviously shoot the ball a lot with four guards, and they played three centers multiple times throughout the game. Realistically, it is two totally different styles.”
With Saturday’s win, Alabama is now alone at the top spot in the SEC standings, holding a 10-2 record in conference play.
“This was a big win,” Oats said. “We have teams right on our tail in this SEC race, so we’ve got to protect the home floor.”
The Crimson Tide will look to remain at the top of the conference when it hosts the Florida Gators, who are currently in fifth place in the race for the SEC regular season title. The game will tip off at 6 p.m. CT and will be broadcast on ESPN2.
