Mark Sears is Returning to Form at the Perfect Time for No. 1 Alabama

The Crimson Tide’s star guard has been in a slump for some time. He looked more like himself in the opening game of the NCAA tournament.

Austin Hannon | Mar 16, 2023

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Alabama Crimson Tide

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. — The Alabama Crimson Tide’s second-leading scorer has been struggling for quite some time.

Transfer guard Mark Sears is still second on the team in scoring (12.8 PPG) — but it hasn’t been that way for a while. The former Ohio guard was sensational out of the gate for the Crimson Tide, averaging 15.4 points over the first 16 contests. Since, Sears has been out of whack on the offensive end.

Since Feb. 15 against Tennessee, Sears has scored less than 10 points in six of nine games.

In last week’s SEC tournament, he scored just 15 points in three games — on 4-for-26 (15%) shooting.

“Mark Sears is a big-time shot-maker,” guard Jaden Bradley said. “He’s not going to miss all of them — we knew that.”

They say shooters shoot. Sears has been, to no avail — until now.

In Alabama’s 96-75 victory over Texas A&M-Corpus Christi, Sears set the tone from the opening tip. In just 21 minutes, Sears had 15 points and three assists on just five shots. He went 3-for-4 from long range.

“I was happy to see Mark [shoot it well],” head coach Nate Oats said. “He's been in the gym working a lot since the SEC weekend. It showed. I thought he came out, shot it really well.”

“You know the previous games I have been struggling to shoot the ball and over the break, I just got back in the gym and started from ground zero, and I just trusted my work,” Sears said.

Sears is one of several key players for the Crimson Tide that have struggled to contribute recently. Nimari Burnett hasn’t seen much playing time due to his cold stretch. He had an impact as well on Thursday, scoring 11 points in 18 minutes played.

According to Sears himself, he had other plans following Alabama’s SEC championship victory over Texas A&M on Sunday.

“The following Monday I went in the gym at 10 a.m., made 300 jump shots, and then at [noon] got treatment and I came back in at 7:30 [p.m.] and I got another 300 shots,” Sears said.

“Mark stays in the gym,” Burnett said. “He lives in the gym.”

Despite his struggles recently, Oats said Sears' minutes would never be in jeopardy because of the work and effort he constantly puts in.

“He's been our second leading scorer all year,” Oats said. “Even when he was struggling we continued to play him heavy minutes because I think he adds a lot to the team — even when he's not making shots. He's tough, he's had games where he's been one of the scrappiest, toughest, perimeter defenders out there.”

“We're going to have him out there because we know he can score. Other teams know he's capable of scoring at a high level. Teams can't sag him. He's going to give spacing on the floor. […] The way he shot it all summer and in the fall, he didn't miss any open threes. I was happy to see that. Hopefully he gets his confidence going and we'll see more of the same in the second round.”

Sears and the Crimson Tide are advancing to the second round of the 2023 NCAA Tournament. A matchup with 8-seed Maryland awaits Alabama on Saturday afternoon.

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