No. 6 Alabama men’s basketball completed the season sweep of No. 24 Mississippi State Tuesday night, taking down the Bulldogs 111-73 at Coleman Coliseum and improving its SEC record to 12-3.
“They were awfully good,” Mississippi State head coach Chris Jans said about the Crimson Tide.
The win marked the Crimson Tide’s eighth consecutive victory over Mississippi State, its ninth win over an AP Top 25 team this year and its widest margin of victory in a conference game this season.
Alabama’s defense came to play early, holding Mississippi State to just 9 points in the first 9:58, giving the Crimson Tide an early 19-9 advantage.
“That was a little bit better start than what we’ve had,” head coach Nate Oats said. “We’ve been stressing that little bit better sense of urgency to start the game.”
The lead ballooned to 20 after back-to-back 3-pointers from guard Chris Youngblood to make the score 35-15 with 5:13 left in the half.
Guard Mark Sears noted that the team was to “take that next step” with its defense, which effectively restrained Mississippi State’s offense in the first half.
The first-half domination continued as the Crimson Tide ended the frame, taking a 53-27 lead into the locker room.
Oats said that he put an emphasis at halftime at putting the game away and continuing to play hard on both sides of the ball.
“You’ve got to take care of business when you have a team down,” he said.
Mississippi State’s 27 first-half points were the least allowed by Alabama in a single half since Kent State scored 24 on Dec. 22.
It was a fairly even start to the second half as both teams traded buckets and turnovers, but a 9-0 Alabama run gave the Crimson Tide a 33-point lead at 68-35 with 14:55 left.
The rest of the game didn’t see much action until the Crimson Tide eclipsed the 100-point mark for the eighth time this season with 2:21 left, making the score 102-67 en route to a 38-point victory. Alabama’s 111 points was also its highest total in an SEC game this season.
“They were very efficient. It snowballed on us,” Jans said. “At that point, all I can do is give them a tip of the cap.”
The team looked to make a statement on limiting Mississippi State guard Josh Hubbard’s touches after he dropped 38 points when the teams met in Starkville on Jan. 29. He was held to 6 points in the first half and had 21 for the game, although most of his points came while his team was out of the game.
While Alabama’s performance was one of its best all season, the Bulldogs scored 12 points in the final four minutes. Oats noted that he would have liked to have seen “a little better sense of urgency playing with the lead.”
Youngblood had a huge night, scoring a season-high 27 points on 7/11 shooting from the 3-point line. This was a continuation of his performance versus the Bulldogs in Starkville, where he scored his previous season-high of 23 points.
Sears put together a solid performance, scoring 21 points and executing on the second leg of the double-double with 10 assists.
“He’s been playing the best basketball of his career on both sides,” Oats said.
Alabama will travel to Knoxville Saturday to take on No. 5 Tennessee for the first time this season. The top-10 showdown will tip off at 3 p.m. CT and can be streamed on ESPN.
