Alabama basketball holds off Rutgers to advance to Players Era Championship

Alabama basketball got everything it wanted from a talented Rutgers team on Wednesday night, but in the end, the Crimson Tide held on for a 95-90 victory in what proved to be a marathon of a game.

Thanks to a tight whistle, the game ran right at two hours and 42 minutes. Alabama players had to believe they were playing a different sport from what the officials let go in the previous night's win over Houston.

Alabama found its shooting from, knocking down 10 3-pointers at a 40 percent clip. A big part of that was an unexpected 4/6 combined from unexpected sources: Jarin Stevenson and Derrion Reid. Stevenson entered the game having missed his first 17 attempts from deep on the season. You know it had to feel good to see a couple fall.

Mark Sears led the way for Alabama with 24 points, though he's still struggling with his efficiency. Mo Dioubate and Grant Nelson both came close to consecutive double-doubles. Dioubate finished with 10 points and 8 rebounds while Nelson had 17 and 9.

Alabama improved to 6-1 on the season and banked another win for its NCAA Tournament resume. The Crimson Tide advance to play Oregon in the championship round on Saturday night at 8:30 pm.

3 Takeaways from Alabama's win over Rutgers

3. The Rutgers freshmen were as good as advertised

I usually focus my takeaways on Alabama-specific things because, well, this is an Alabama fan site after all. But it would be a disservice to not tip my hat toward Rutgers star freshmen Dylan Harper and Ace Bailey. Both guys played like superstars and looked every bit like the Top 5 NBA Draft picks they are projected to be.

Harper was a matchup nightmare for Alabama's guards. At 6-foot-6 he was just too much to handle for Sears, Aden Holloway, Labaron Philon, or Latrell Wrightsell. Nate Oats got creative in the second half and started putting Dioubate, Reid, and even Stevenson on him. It never really mattered.

Harper got to the rim at will and finished with 37 points. He hit 11/19 from the field and made 15/16 from the free-throw line.

Fellow freshman Bailey was impressive as well. He got to his spots and made contested midrange jumpers over and over again. He also hit a clutch three late in the second half to cut Alabama's lead to two.

Rutgers doesn't have a ton of help around those guys, but they are good enough to take the Scarlet Knights a long way.

2. Alabama's guards have to be better

Sears scored 24 points, but he was just 7/19 from the field and continues to struggle with his efficiency. He also turned the ball over five times and missed three free throws. The good news is that his confidence is back after looking lost against Illinois and struggling with it early against Houston.

It was a struggle for the other guards, too. Sears, Philon, and Wrightsell combined for 12 of Alabama's 20 turnovers.

Aden Holloway didn't have his shot tonight and was just 1/6 from the field, but I mostly thought his energy and effort was good. He competed hard on the defensive end of the floor, even faced with mismatches against Harper.

But Alabama's guards are supposed to be a major strength of this team. They didn't look like it tonight. They'll need to bounce back on Saturday if Alabama wants to knock off Oregon and leave Las Vegas with the championship.

1. Mo Dioubate might just be Herb Jones 2.0

Mo Dioubate keeps making winning plays for Alabama, and I'm done pretending I don't see the obvious comparison. Dioubate is playing a lot like Herb Jones played during his time in Tuscaloosa. Alabama is simply a better team with him on the floor.

Much like Herb, Dioubate is a versatile defender capable of defending bigs or being the main point-of-attack defender against on-ball guards. He's never in a mismatch off of a switch.

He followed up his 10 point, 16 rebound, 3 blocked shot performance against Houston with 10 points, 8 rebounds, 2 blocks, and 2 steals against Rutgers.

Many wondered where the minutes would come from for Dioubate on such a talented team. He just goes out there every night and busts his tail and makes it impossible to keep him off the floor.