Mark Sears Leads No. 9 Alabama to Win in Overtime Thriller over No. 6 Houston

The Crimson Tide kicked off the Players Era Festival with its first top-10 victory of the season.

Mark Sears against Houston in Las Vegas / Alabama Athletics

Mark Sears was coming off the first scoreless game of his Alabama career, and he made sure Tuesday night that it wasn’t going to happen again. 

The senior guard led the Crimson Tide with 24 points, including a clutch 3-pointer in the final minute of regulation and opening minutes of overtime as No. 9 Alabama beat No. 6 Houston 85-80 in the opening round of the Players Era Festival in Las Vegas. 

MARK SEARS ARE YOU KIDDING 😱

ONE POINT GAME. @AlabamaMBB pic.twitter.com/1nGcnapi64

— NCAA March Madness (@MarchMadnessMBB) November 27, 2024

"My teammates really built me up," Sears said after the game. "They constantly told me to keep shooting. If I missed the first three, they believed I was going to make the next four. My teammates really uplifted me, and I can't do it without them because they gave me all the confidence tonight."

Alabama saw an eight-point lead in the second half quickly evaporate as Houston went on a 10-0 run, but the Crimson Tide battled back over the final four minutes to force overtime. Sears got the scoring started in overtime to give the Crimson Tide the lead, which it never relinquished in the extra period. 

The defense locked it down in overtime, only allowing two points after regulation. The game fully embodied Nate Oats' blue collar mentality, and no one represented that more than Mouhamed Dioubate.

The sophomore forward was phenomenal on both sides of the floor for the Crimson Tide with his first career double-double (10 points and 16 rebounds.) Five of Dioubate's 16 career-high rebounds came on the offensive glass. He also had three blocks and a steal.

Auburn transfer Aden Holloway also had some clutch shots for the Crimson Tide, finishing with 14 points on 5-of-8 shooting. Grant Nelson and Latrell Wrightsell Jr. also scored in double figures for Alabama.

It was a rough night for Alabama freshman Labaron Philon, who came into the game as the Tide’s third-leading scorer at 12.8 points per game, but ended the night with just one point on 0-of-9 shooting from the floor. 

Overall, the first half was a back-and-forth affair. Both teams went on runs and seemed to start to pull away, but then the other team would answer. The game started out a defensive battle with Alabama even struggling to get shots up, turning it over on four of the first five possessions. But the offense settled in as the game went on.

Houston and Alabama have now met in three straight seasons with all three games coming down to the wire and resulting in Crimson Tide victories. The Cougars had the ball with 22 seconds left and the game tied at 78-78. LJ Cryer, who led Houston with 30 points, got off a shot with two seconds left, but couldn't get it to fall.

"That's the toughest, hardest-playing team in America pretty much every night out," Oats said. "The last five years, they've got more wins than anyone else in college basketball for a reason. I've got a ton of ressect for how hard they play and how they do it... We knew it was going to be a tight game, and we made enough plays late in regulation, late in overtime to win the game."

Alabama picks up its second ranked win of the season and improves to 5-1 on the season. The Crimson Tide will be back on the court Wednesday night in Vegas for another game in the Players Era tournament against Rutgers at 9 p.m.

Alabama vs. Houston final stats / Statbroadcast