Nate Oats praises Mo Dioubate for his impact late in Alabama's Round of 32 win

When March Madness rolls around you often need standout performances from players who haven’t been called on much. Alabama learned that in a Round of 32 game against Grand Canyon after injury hit the backcourt.

Luckily for the Crimson Tide, the change that a head injury to Latrell Wrightsell helped force was a positive one.

Freshman forward Mouhamed Dioubate got some extra run as Alabama went to a slightly bigger lineup than it normally employs. The freshman made his minutes count, too.

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“We knew we needed some tough plays. We also knew they’d give up a lot of threes,” coach Nate Oats said. “So analytically thinking we need some 3-point shooters in, Sam Walters, (Rylan) Griffen, (Mark) Sears, (Aaron) Estrada. Mo doesn’t really fit that bill, and we were lacking some toughness there, and let’s put a guy in that’s going to make some tough plays.”

Dioubate delivered big-time. Playing for 13 minutes in the contest, he contributed nine points, five rebounds and two blocks, making a serious impact on both ends of the floor.

For a guy who averaged only 7.9 minutes per game for Alabama this season that’s one heck of a contribution.

“He’s been a tough player all year,” Oats said. “He’s struggled sometimes on offense to grab some of the concepts and he even said it happened in high school. It took him a little while to get familiar with the system and he ended up being NEPSAC Player of the Year, which is a really good league.”

If comfortability is the key for Dioubate, future opponents had better be on the lookout. He certainly looked comfortable against Grand Canyon.

He can add an extra dimension to Alabama’s game, a presence on the glass and an athletic shot-blocker at the other end.

“And shoot, he played 12 minutes, had five O boards,” Oats said. “I thought (Nick) Pringle made some really good reads in the pocket. Sears hit Pringle, Mo cuts, scores, got to the O boards. He just made some stuff happen.

“I’m super happy for him. I mean, he literally has the greatest attitude. I mean, NEPSAC Player of the Year doesn’t play a ton as a freshman, some games he doesn’t play at all, and never had one second of any kind of poor attitude. He’s just been an unbelievable kid all year. So super happy he came in and won this game for us.”