Alabama Basketball Earns Hard-Fought Road Win in Starkville

The Crimson Tide moves to 3-0 in SEC play.

STARKVILLE, Miss. — Alabama basketball put it all on the line Saturday night, winning a physical battle on the road against Mississippi State by a final score of 82-74.

The Crimson Tide weathered foul trouble all night long in a game where the team exuded incredible amounts of toughness. The win moves the team to 3-0 in SEC play, tied for first place in the conference with rival Auburn.

Guard Latrell Wrightsell Jr. was masterful off the bench for Alabama, scoring 19 points as the sixth man. As always, Mark Sears got his, adding 22 of his own to lead the team. Once again, Mouhamed Dioubate provided excellent minutes in the limited time he got, grabbing three rebounds and playing his heart out on the defensive end.

Next up, Alabama heads back to Coleman Coliseum against Missouri, looking to start 4-0 in SEC play. The game is set for a 6 p.m. CT tipoff.

Live Updates

(most recent update at the top)

Second Half

• Alabama leads 78-74 after two Sears free throws. 26 seconds to go.

• Alabama holds a slim 76-74 lead with 48 seconds to go.

• Mississippi State clawed all the way back to take the lead, but a huge shot from Sears has given Alabama a slight 74-72 lead at the under-4.

• Nick Pringle has fouled out with 6:45 to go in the game.

• We've hit the under-8, and it's getting interesting. Alabama leads 65-60, and is playing as tough as I've seen them play all season.

• Alabama leads 62-52 at the under-12 timeout, but Dioubate just fouled a 3-point shooter. Alabama's done a great job building this lead, but this is where they have to keep the foot on the gas. The home team isn't going to lay down.

• Timeout Mississippi State after a 5-0 Mark Sears run that was bound to happen sooner or later. Alabama leads 56-47 with 13:41 to go.

• Alabama leads Mississippi State 51-45 at the under-16, but foul trouble to the bigs has once again become an issue. Still, I like the way the Crimson Tide is guarding right now.

• Alabama has answered with a very quick 7-0 run off scoring from three different players, and now leads 47-43.

• Mississippi State hits a three to open the half and regains the lead, 41-40. 

First Half

• HALF: Alabama 40, Mississippi State 38 Pretty good half from Alabama in my opinion. Weathered the storm early and punched back with a higher level of toughness. Wrightsell with 11 in the half, and Dioubate still making things happen.

• Coming into this game, Mississippi State ranked 270th in 3-point percentage, at 31.5% They are 4-for-6 in the first half.

• Alabama trails 36-34 with 2 minutes to go in the half, Griffen has two free throws coming up after the break.

• Even with the foul trouble, Alabama is still weathering the physicality and maintaining a small lead.

• Back-to-back threes for Wrightsell, timeout Mississippi State. Alabama has its first lead of the game, 23-21, with 8 to go in the half.

• 10 minutes into the game, Wague and Pringle both have two fouls. Feels like we're back in mid-December.

• Mark Sears just picked up his second foul headed into the under-12. The Crimson Tide has adjusted a little better to State's physicality over the last few minutes. Wague and Dioubate have been really good so far.

• Alabama is on a 7-0 run and has cut the lead to 15-13.

• Alabama trails Mississippi State 10-6 at the under-16. Not sure how, but they're going to have to find a way to limit paint touches. State is getting far too many easy looks at the rim.

• Looks like we're getting some early Dioubate minutes. Oats stormed down the bench and yanked him to the scorer's table after Alabama gave up its second offensive rebound.

• Mohamed Wague checks into the game after two quick Pringle fouls.

• Alabama's first bucket comes from an Estrada jumper. Alabama trails 4-2 early.

• Mississippi State gets the first bucket of the game. 

Pregame

• Alabama's starters at Mississippi State: Mark Sears, Aaron Estrada, Rylan Griffen, Grant Nelson, Nick Pringle

• Alabama forward Mohamed Wague is dressed and going through warmups. Yesterday, Oats called him a game-time decision.

• Alabama will be wearing it's home white jerseys on the road tonight. The team is warming up in white shorts while MSU warms up in Maroon.

• Humphrey Coliseum underwent renovations over the offseason, and the they have a new logo at center court that features the state outline.

📍Humphrey Coliseum

Football has been all the news lately, but Alabama basketball has a huge one tonight on the road against Mississippi State with a chance to move to 3-0 in conference play. pic.twitter.com/n9tPy7OHXp

— Blake Byler (@blakebyler45) January 13, 2024

How to Watch: Alabama at Mississippi State

Who: Alabama (10-5, 2-0 SEC) at Mississippi State (12-3, 1-1 SEC)

When: Saturday, January 13, 7:30 p.m. CT

Where: Humphrey Coliseum, Starkville, Miss.

TV: SEC Network

Radio: Crimson Tide Sports Network (Play-By-Play: Chris Stewart, Analyst: Bryan Passink). The pregame show will begin one hour prior to tipoff.

Series: Alabama leads, 133-77

Last Meeting: On March 10, 2023, Alabama and Mississippi State met in the quarterfinals of the SEC Tournament in Nashville. The Crimson Tide cruised to a 72-49 victory behind an 18-point performance from Brandon Miller.

Alabama Leaders:

• Scoring: Mark Sears (20.2 PPG)
• Rebounding: Grant Nelson (5.5 RPG)
• Assists: Aaron Estrada (4.1 APG)

Mississippi State Leaders:

• Scoring: G Josh Hubbard (15.1 PPG)
• Rebounding: F Jimmy Bell Jr. (8.2 RPG)
• Assists: G Dashawn Davis (3.5 APG)