Alabama basketball moves to 10-2 in SEC play with win over Texas A&M

The Alabama men’s basketball team has now moved to 10-2 in SEC play (18-7 overall record) after beating Texas A&M 100-75 in Coleman Coliseum on Saturday. That means the Crimson Tide remain the sole leader in the current SEC standings with only six games remaining on the schedule.

How It Happened

Alabama was down 5-2 through the first 2.5 minutes of the game, but then a light switch flipped. UA went on a 16-3 run over the next four minutes to take an 18-8 lead. And while A&M tried to close the gap some at times, Alabama’s lead was never really threatened much over the last 33.5 minutes of action. The score at halftime saw the Tide leading 49-35, and there was almost as much separation created in the last 20 minutes.

Players of the Game

Veteran guard Mark Sears continues to play at an extremely high level. He scored 23 points on 8-of-14 shooting (4-of-7 from three-point range) against Texas A&M on Saturday, which means he’s now scored 20 or more eight straight games. Not only that, but he added four rebounds, four assists and three steals while finishing +21 in plus/minus. The Muscle Shoals (Ala.) native is one of the most underrated players in college basketball.

I also thought Latrell Wrightsell Jr. was fantastic for a second consecutive game. He scored 16 points while shooting 4-of-8 from beyond the arc. Plus, he added three rebounds, two assists and three steals of his own. That means he’s now scored 38 points over Alabama’s last two games while hitting 10-of-17 three-point attempts (58.8%). The transfer from Cal State Fullerton has been a big reason why UA has put up 100 or more points in back-to-back games.

Rylan Griffen was Alabama’s second-leading scorer though with 17 points. He’s averaging 15.7 points over the last three games while hitting 12-of-24 (50%) three-point attempts during that same span. That’s been huge for the Crimson Tide, too.

Key Stats

Texas A&M destroyed Alabama on the boards, particiularly on the offensive glass. The Aggies got double the amount offensive rebounds as the Crimson Tide (26 to 13), but they were able to come that — fairly easily, might I add — by knocking down big-time shot after big-time shot.

UA shot 43.9% from three-point range, which even included Aaron Estrada and Davin Cosby combining for only a 20% mark on 2-of-10 attempts. In fact, six different players shot 40% or better from beyond the arc with four of those having four or more attempts.

• Rylan Griffen – 4/10 (40%)
• Latrell Wrightsell – 4/8 (50%)
• Mark Sears – 4/7 (57.1%)
• Sam Walters – 2/4 (50%)
• Jarin Stevenson – 1/2 (50%)
• Grant Nelson – 1/1 (100%)

You also saw Alabama continue to rack up the assists with 20 while Texas A&M only had six. Between the quality ball movement and high shooting percentage, the Crimson Tide managed to score in the triple digits for an eighth time this season. Three of those eight games have come in SEC play, too (109 points twice against LSU).

What’s Next

Alabama now has a tough five-game stretch coming up that includes Florida (home), No. 22 Kentucky (road), Ole Miss (road), No. 8 Tennessee (home) and Florida again (road). So over the next 2.5 weeks, you’re going to see the Crimson Tide take on the Gators twice, starting with that home game coming up on Wednesday, Feb. 21. Tipoff is set for 6 p.m. CT, and it will air on ESPN2.

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