In arguably the game of the year in college basketball, Mark Sears hit a game winning floater from the foul line in overtime to deliver Alabama a 93-91 win over Auburn in the final regular season game of the season.
The Crimson Tide answered the bell from their head coach after poor effort on the glass proved costly in Wednesday's loss to Florida at home. Alabama outrebounded Auburn 41-33 and both Grant Nelson and Cliff Omoruyi stepped up after struggling against the Gators. The Tide's starting front line scored a combined 38 points and grabbed 16 rebounds.
Alabama also answered the bell from poor end-of-game execution that cost them last Saturday in a road loss in Knoxville.
To even get the game to overtime, Alabama needed a defensive stop at the end of regulation, and Nelson forced Johni Broome into a fadeaway shot on the baseline that missed to force OT.
In OT, after Broome drained a three to tie the game at 91 with 14 seconds left, Nate Oats drew up a play to get the ball into Sears' hands driving left. Sears pulled up from the free throw line and hit a mid-range(!!!) floater to win the game and stun the raucous crowd inside Neville Arena.
3 Takeaways from Alabama's thrilling win over Auburn
3. Mark Sears deserved that moment
Following a disappointing Senior Night on Wednesday against Florida that was compounded by Oats' questionable decision to hold the ceremony after the game and with a sparse crowd in attendance due to the loss, it was nice to see Sears, one of the best players in program history, get to have this moment, in this game.
It was far from a banner night for Sears before the game-winner. Heo nly scored 9 points in the game on 3-of-9 shooting from the floor. He was flustered by Auburn's aggressive defense, particularly Denver Jones.
But when it mattered the most, Sears delivered. He got to his spot and got off an uncontested floater from the free throw line that swished through the net to rip Auburn's hearts out as time expired.
Sears has had plenty of big moments during his Alabama career. That one will rank near the top.
2. "Sweet 16" Grant Nelson made a rare recent appearance
It hasn't been the final season of college basketball Grant Nelson hoped for, but he's also been battling an injury for a while now. One thing you can't criticize him for is the effort he brings night in and night out. That was no different on Saturday, but he added in production on the offensive end.
Nelson led Alabama with 23 points and 8 rebounds. He knocked down 3-of-5 from three-point range and made Auburn pay for leaving him open. His shooting was big as Alabama struggled from deep outside of Nelson. The rest of the team combined to make just 4-of-17 attempts from three.
This team can elevate to another level with this version of Nelson. His production was sorely needed with Sears struggling for most of the afternoon.
1. Alabama re-established itself as a National Championship contender
Simply put, if Alabama can beat Auburn on the road, there's no team they can't beat, and there's no gym they will be intimidated to play in. Regardless of the fact that the Tigers had wrapped up the SEC regular season crown, and their fans will undoubtedly say they didn't bring a high-level effort as a result, it was obvious that Pearl and Auburn wanted that game.
Auburn wanted the season sweep of Alabama and they certainly didn't want to finish the regular season on a two-game losing streak.
For Alabama, there were fair mumblings about whether this team was truly on the level of the Auburns, Floridas, Dukes, and Houstons of the world. Those four seemed to be able to operate on a level the Tide couldn't get to. Alabama had gone 0-3 against Auburn, Florida, and Tennessee this year coming into Saturday, three of the five teams ranked ahead of them in KenPom.
But even with Sears struggling for most of the game, and little added from Chris Youngblood or Aden Holloway, Alabama found a way to beat Auburn in one of the most hostile environments in the country.
If you still had questions about whether this team is good enough to win it all, its performance at Auburn should have resoundingly answered that for you.