Three Takeaways From Alabama Basketball's Thrilling Win Over Mississippi State

The No. 4 Crimson Tide outlasted the No. 14 Bulldogs in an action-packed game on the road.
Jan 29, 2025; Starkville, Mississippi, USA; Alabama Crimson Tide guard Mark Sears (1) looks to pass the ball as Mississippi State Bulldogs guard Josh Hubbard (12) defends during the first half at Humphrey Coliseum. Mandatory Credit: Wesley Hale-Imagn Images
Jan 29, 2025; Starkville, Mississippi, USA; Alabama Crimson Tide guard Mark Sears (1) looks to pass the ball as Mississippi State Bulldogs guard Josh Hubbard (12) defends during the first half at Humphrey Coliseum. Mandatory Credit: Wesley Hale-Imagn Images / Wesley Hale-Imagn Images
In this story:

STARKVILLE, Miss. — No. 4 Alabama men's basketball took down No. 14 Mississippi State 88-84 in a thriller on the road.

Unlike most of Alabama's wins, this one was close throughout as the Bulldogs never allowed the Crimson Tide to truly pull away. The Starkville crowd literally ran into Humphrey Coliseum dressed head-to-toe in black, matching with the Bulldogs' uniform. Color theme nights typically create more noise and this was a prime example of that.

There's so much to dissect from this matchup at Humphrey Coliseum. Here are three takeaways:

Chris Youngblood Has Arrived

Alabama guard Chris Youngblood suffered an ankle injury before the season, which sidelined him up until mid-December, when the South Florida transfer made his Crimson Tide debut against Creighton. Youngblood has gradually earned more time on the floor since then and it's reflective of his recent success.

Fellow Alabama guard Labaron Philon tweaked his ankle before the LSU game this past Saturday and Youngblood earned his first start of the season in freshman's place. Youngblood showed a lot of promise in a 13-point, five-rebound and two-block effort and it helped Alabama head coach Nate Oats in his decision to start the senior against Mississippi State.

Little did we know that Youngblood's performance against LSU was just a warmup. Youngblood tallied 12 points on a stellar 4-for-5 clip from long-range heading into the halftime locker room against the Bulldogs. Both halves were very back-and-forth, but when the Bulldogs got hot, he was the ultimate silencer.

"Just stick to the script," Youngblood said in the postgame press conference when asked what his message was in the huddle, as he was frequently the voice of it. "On the road, the crowd goes crazy at the free-throw line, they're going to be loud regardless, but just don't let them rattle you. Stick to the script and just focus on what we've got to do because when we get a bucket the crowd goes quiet."

Up by one after three missed free throws by forwards Grant Nelson and Mouhamed Dioubate, center Clifford Omoruyi blocked Mississippi State on an attempt that all but certainly would've given Mississippi State the lead. Youngblood then went to the charity stripe and hit both shots. Youngblood finished a jaw-dropping 7-for-10 from behind the arc, leading to a 23-point outing. His numbers helped create a team-wide 48 percent from deep, which is the second-best percentage of the season and the 15-for-31 slate is also the Tide's second-most.

“We need guys to kind of complement Mark [Sears]," Oats said. "Mark can make plays, get guys open, get guys to knock down shots. And hopefully, this is Chris’ coming out party here because he looked pretty good on both ends of the floor. He had pretty high defensive leverage, too. I would say he was second in defensive leverage behind Cliff [Omoruyi]."

Josh Hubbard Could Not Be Stopped

"Hubbard's good, he's a quick and explosive guard. If you lose him for half a second and all sudden he's got a three off. He's got an act for getting fouled shooting threes. We gotta guard him on the three-point line without fouling him."

This was the message Oats gave during Tuesday's press conference. Fast forward about 36 hours later, Alabama could not defend Hubbard. It's as simple as that.

Hubbard finished the game with 38 points on 14-for-28 shooting, including 6-for-15 from behind the arc. He played in 36 of the game's 40 minutes, but went down late in the first half with an apparent leg injury that took him a while to get up off the floor from as Humphrey Coliseum became dead silent. He wasn't able to put any weight on his leg as he hobbled off the court with the team's trainer, but obviously he came back in and dominated Alabama's defense with 25 points in the second half.

"Hubbard’s pretty good," Oats said. "We didn’t do a very good job on him, but man, he made some tough shots. Chris [Youngblood] stepped up and said, ‘Let me take him.’ I thought maybe he did the best job out of anybody, but it was late in the game and we had already given up a bunch of them to him. I mean, he goes for 38. We've got to do a better job on defense."

Hubbard's scoring masterpiece kept Mississippi State in it the entire game. Every tough bucket ignited the Starkville supporters, which created a deafening environment. Momentum also often favored the Bulldogs thanks to Hubbard among others like forward KeShawn Murphy, who scored 18 points.

Bounce-Back Game For Mark Sears

There's no doubt about it. Alabama may have defeated LSU, but the benching of Sears for the entire second half was the main story from last Saturday's win. Sears played 17 minutes in the first half but was held scoreless, missing all five of his field goal attempts, but added three assists, three rebounds and two turnovers.

For a large majority of the second half against LSU, Sears had a towel around his shoulders and often covered his mouth with it while talking to numerous assistant coaches and teammates. He appeared to have a look of frustration throughout his time on the bench as well.

Oats, along with the entire Alabama basketball fanbase wanted to see a big recovery from Sears against Mississippi State. He turned in a very solid night with 17 points on 6-for-11 shooting (3-for-5 from three-point land), while dishing nine assists and collecting six rebounds (three offensive). However, and this a big however, Sears was responsible for seven of Alabama's 14 turnovers, but Oats was still content with the Preseason All-American's performance.

“I thought Sears had a really good bounce-back game," Oats said. "I mean, he played hard. We chart up those blue-collar points and Dioubate ended up winning it with seven [offensive] boards, but Sears was a point behind him. I thought he made a bunch of tough plays.

“Obviously, the turnovers, he tried to put it in there in some tight places too much. I think two of those were jump balls that they had the possession on. So obviously, we don’t want him turning the ball over seven times, but I thought his effort, which is really what we’ve been trying to get him to, was great."

Oats previously explained that Sears had just had his best two consecutive practices since he's arrived in Tuscaloosa and that showed in multiple ways against Mississippi State. Sears' ball movement was key in the Tide gaining open shots. A few of those assists were to forward Grant Nelson, who had 15 points, seven rebounds and three blocks. But Oats seemed to be most thrilled with Sears as a shooter.

“I thought he made some big shots late in the shot clock, kind of bailed us out," Oats said. "The one lean-in three at the top of the key, the one over there on the left baseline, I mean, we needed every last point we could get tonight, and some of the shots he hit when probably nobody else on the team would be able to generate a bucket that late in the clock like he was able to do was big. So I was super happy with Mark’s effort and performance tonight."

Read More: How Many Wins Can Alabama Basketball Earn in Second Gauntlet of Season? Just a Minute


Published |Modified
Hunter De Siver
HUNTER DE SIVER

Hunter De Siver is the lead basketball writer for BamaCentral and has covered Crimson Tide football since 2024. He previously distributed stories about the NFL and NBA for On SI and was a staff writer for Missouri Tigers On SI and Cowbell Corner. Before that, Hunter generated articles highlighting Crimson Tide products in the NFL and NBA for BamaCentral as an intern in 2022 and 2023. Hunter is a graduate from the University of Alabama, earning a degree in sports media in 2023