No. 4 Alabama Basketball Cruises Past Georgia, Potentially Poised for Move Up Rankings

The Crimson Tide overcame a solid Georgia squad at home on Saturday.

Will Miller | Feb 11, 2025

Feb 1, 2025; Tuscaloosa, Alabama, USA; Alabama Crimson Tide guard Mark Sears (1) drives the ball against Georgia Bulldogs guard Silas Demary Jr. (5) during the first half at Coleman Coliseum. Mandatory Credit: Will McLelland-Imagn Images / Will McLelland-Imagn Images

TUSCALOOSA, Ala.— Overcoming early struggles from point guard Mark Sears and a double-digit turnover number in the game’s first 20 minutes, the Alabama basketball team triumphed over visiting Georgia 90-69 on Saturday afternoon.

The No. 4 Crimson Tide (19-3, 8-1 SEC) took a 39-28 lead into the break with only freshman Aiden Sherrell having scored in double figures by that point in the contest. Sears went scoreless until the 5:23 mark of the half, later finding his footing in the scoring column despite accruing early turnovers. As a team, Alabama also crashed the boards to the tune of a 52-36 advantage in that category.

Head coach Nate Oats sought to have his team respond to the challenge of freshman forward Asa Newell. The Bulldogs' best player had four steals and five boards at intermission, but his efforts alone (16 points) could not ultimately keep Georgia (15-7, 3-6 SEC) within one or two significant strikes of one of the nation's best offenses for 40 minutes. The visitors shot 36% from the field as a collective unit.

"For the most part, Asa got going there a little bit early in the second half, but for the most part I thought our bigs did a pretty good job [on him]," Oats said. "Ton of respect for him. Ends up with 16 [points] and seven [rebounds], but takes 15 shots, goes 6-of-15 from the floor."

Absent turnovers, it is highly possible that Alabama's halftime lead would've been even larger, and that margin was double digits as it was. Oats also said Friday that the Crimson Tide needed to bring more energy to this game after, in his estimation, being lacking in it for the prior three home tilts.

"Unbelievable effort from our guys, really the effort we've been looking for, outside the start to the second half," Oats said. "We've gotta fix the turnovers. Obviously, it's a major problem, and 12 of those 20 were from three of our fifth-year seniors, which shouldn't be the case. But I thought those guys kinda set the tone. Thought this was the hardest Sears has played... His leadership, the effort he gave tonight, I think really set the tone for how the team's supposed to look."

This imperative indeed seemed to resonate, even though the Crimson Tide eventually finished the game with 20 turnovers. Momentum swung strongly to the side of Alabama when, with the home team up 52-43 and 13:59 to go, Georgia head coach Mike White was assessed a technical foul. The Crimson Tide scored the game's next seven points in a row, before White called a timeout following a Sears three (which pushed his scoring total to 18 of an eventual 20).

Sears said he was focused on not letting the game get into his head, and something snapped him out of his funk. He had a theory on what's contributed to his response over the past week. "Just playing hard," he said. "Just making the right plays and not forcing things and just letting the game flow natural." Oats said nothing on offense affected Sears' defensive effort, which was the jump the coaching staff was hoping for him to make; the adjective he used to describe that progression was "enormous."

From there, Alabama really began to separate itself. It led by 23 at the under-eight media timeout and was not threatened after White's technical. The outmatched Bulldogs struggled at times to get shots to fall, whether from deep or close. That is never a recipe for staying in games, at least not one that is often successful. The Crimson Tide had five players in double figures: Sears, Sherrell, Aden Holloway, Chris Youngblood and Grant Nelson. Newell was one of just two such players for Georgia, while Nelson double-doubled with 16 points and 10 rebounds.

Sherrell logged a season high in minutes, valuable experience for the talented first-year player. He attributed his success in the matchup to the work he's been putting in. Oats said Sherrell has practiced well consistently and was voted practice MVP by teammates during the last practice.

"We were in a flow," Sherrell said. "We went out there and executed. It felt great [to make multiple three-pointers]. I've been in the gym, getting up shots a lot."

Nelson said it is his hope to win the Hard Hat, which he finished less than one point shy of accomplishing Saturday. Mouhamed Dioubate added yet another one to his collection in 11 minutes of play. "I don't even know what he does to get like 20 [blue-collar points] every night," Nelson joked.

With No. 3 Iowa State's 80-61 upset loss at the hands of Kansas State, a game which went final as Alabama was playing, the Crimson Tide will now most likely be positioned for a move up in the rankings to join rival Auburn in the top three. That's the significance of taking down a good basketball team at home, although Georgia closed January struggling and opened February the same way. Oats also saw his team play hard even in spots where things didn't go the players' way, like getting back after turnovers.

"If we can take that mentality, that effort on the defensive end and clean up the offense, we've got something headed in the right direction here going into the second half of conference play," Oats said with his team set for a weeklong layoff before its next game at Arkansas. "Defensively, we made big jumps."

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