Mo Dioubate gives Alabama a late boost to beat Grand Canyon

Grand Canyon was on a 12-3 run and had taken its first lead since the 11:48 mark of the first half. The Antelopes used an 8-0 streak to take a 58-55 advantage on the scoreboard with six minutes left in the game, and momentum seemed to shift in favor of the No. 12 seed.

But then Mo Dioubate checked into the Round of 32 matchup. 

The Alabama freshman pulled down back-to-back offensive rebounds on missed free throws by his teammates and went to the line himself after a made layup, which gave the Crimson Tide the lead again, 60-58. Dioubate fueled a 17-3 run to close out the game, scoring nine of Alabama’s final 15 points, and helped lead the Tide to its third Sweet 16 in four years.

“Mo Dioubate came in late and was great on both ends, scored (nine) straight points,” head coach Nate Oats said. “After Jarin (Stevenson) fouled out, we needed a boost. The boost he gave us right there defensively and offensively – Rylan (Griffen) was in foul trouble, Jarin’s fouled out – I thought he was great.”

Sunday’s second-round game in Spokane, Wash., was Dioubate’s second straight outing with nine points and five rebounds (all of them on the offensive end of the floor). He logged 13 and 12 minutes, respectively, in each NCAA Tournament contest. The true freshman may not be playing a ton of minutes, but he has made an immense impact in both games.

Against Grand Canyon, he turned the tide when it felt like the Lopes were seizing momentum in the matchup, especially with their well-traveled student section reacting to the late run. Dioubate gave Alabama some much-needed production on the scoreboard, but his play on the defensive end was equally, if not more, important in the Crimson Tide’s 72-61 victory. 

Oats said Alabama allowed 0.64 points per possession when Dioubate was in the game. 

“He’s never afraid of the moment, just does all the dirty work all year,” Oats said. “I’m super happy that he was able to come in and really help close this thing out for us.”

Tide senior guard Aaron Estrada, who is playing in his final season at the college level, won the Hard Hat Award for the most blue-collar points against GCU. But after receiving it in the locker room, he quickly handed it to Dioubate, and the rest of the team celebrated with the freshman. They recognized his performance on Sunday and its impact on the outcome.

“He won us the game the last five minutes,” said Alabama senior guard Mark Sears, who scored 26 points. “I think he had a stretch of like (nine) straight points or something like that, and he got O boards and he did it on both sides of the floor. We don’t win this game without him.”

For Dioubate, he didn’t worry about the magnitude of the moment of keeping Alabama’s tournament hopes alive but focused on crashing the glass or making tough plays at the rim. 

“I was just playing hard and I got lost in the game, honestly,” Dioubate said after the game. “I wasn’t thinking about scoring. I just let the game come to me. Coach put me in with a few minutes left in the game because Jarin fouled out, and I just tried to play as hard as I can and let my defense contribute to offense, and that’s what I did.”

The newcomer from Queens played in his 30th game this season, where he has averaged 3.2 points in 8.1 minutes per outing. A rotational player for all of his first year at Alabama, Dioubate has humbly played his role and has been responsible for many blue-collar plays whenever he steps on the floor. The Tide needed all of them Sunday to stay alive.

“We knew we needed some tough plays,” Oats said. “We also knew they’d give up a lot of threes. So analytically thinking, we need some 3-point shooters in, Sam Walters, Griffin, Sears, 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. And shoot, he played 12 minutes, had five 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.”

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