Alabama basketball got everything it wanted against Mississippi State in Starkville on Wednesday night, but the Crimson Tide held on for an 88-84 road win over the Bulldogs to improve to 18-3 overall and 7-1 in SEC play.
Alabama survived a career night from Mississippi State guard Josh Hubbard, who shredded the Tide for 38 points. It didn't seem to matter who Alabama threw at Hubbard - whether it was a guard like Mark Sears or Labaron Philon - or a forward like Jarin Stevenson or Mo Dioubate. Hubbard was unguardable.
But Alabama got the game they've been waiting for from Chris Youngblood. Last season's AAC Player of the Year at USF, Youngblood has been working his way back from an ankle injury. He was huge in Starkville, scoring 23 points and hitting seven three-pointers. Youngblood also hit a pair of free throws down the stretch that iced the win for the Crimson Tide.
Alabama had a five-point lead at halftime and pushed to as many as nine in the second half, but could never put away Chris Jans' Bulldogs.
Every road game in the SEC is going to be a fight like this. Alabama pulling this one out is huge as they remain just a game behind Auburn in the standings.
3 Takeaways from Alabama's win over Mississippi State
3. Alabama's defense has to get better
I promise not to complain too much about a road win over a Top 15 opponent, but Alabama's defense has to get better if the Crimson Tide wants to seriously contend for a national championship.
Hubbard for Mississippi State was on a heater. He hit several contested shots, but I also think Alabama's defensive gameplan for him wasn't good enough. Nate Oats continuously wanted to counter Hubbard with length and put Jarin Stevenson and Mo Dioubate on the State guard. But Hubbard was too quick for either of them and got the rim at will.
At one point in the second half, Mississippi State scored on 13 of 16 possessions. Alabama seemed poised to put the game away, but defensive lapses and some tough shot-making by the Bulldogs made this a dogfight down the stretch.
Alabama did get some stops down the stretch when it needed to, with both Sears and Youngblood taking turns playing good defense on Hubbard. And Cliff Omoruyi affected a shot at the rim by KeShawn Murphy that could have given Mississippi State the lead with 13 seconds to go following a pair of missed free throws by Grant Nelson and one by Mo Dioubate.
2. Mo Diobuate: winner
Mo Dioubate plays winning basketball. When he's in the game, good things happen for Alabama basketball. He only scored 4 points, but Dioubate impacted the game with his hustle, rebounding, and defense.
He grabbed 9 boards, 7 of which were on the offensive end. He also dished out a couple of assists and had a block and a steal. Dioubate came up with two critical plays down the stretch for the Crimson Tide that helped them eke out the victory.
Nelson got fouled with 24 seconds left with Alabama leading 85-84. Oats inserted Dioubate for offensive rebounding purposes. Nelson missed both free throws, but Dioubate did what he does and corralled the offensive rebound. Pound for pound, there's not a better rebounder in the country than him.
Unfortunately, Dioubate missed the front end of a one-and-one himself. Following the Murphy miss at the rim, Youngblood stepped up and hit a pair of free throws to put Alabama up by three. State still had a chance, but Dioubate was given the Hubbard assignment and fought through a ball screen and harrassed the star Bulldogs guard, who lost the ball out of bounds off of his own leg.
Nelson connected on one of two free throws after that to officially ice the win for the Tide. Alabama probably doesn't escape Starkville with a win without Dioubate.
1. Alabama's three-point shooting was the difference
It's been a struggle for most of the season for Alabama shooting threes. The Tide has spent most of the year ranked <200th in the country in three-point shooting percentage. The Crimson Tide needed a big night from beyond the arc to tame the Bulldogs.
Alabama connected on 15-of-31 (48.4%) from three. Youngblood led the way hitting 7-of-10. The senior came up huge on the road for the Tide.
Mark Sears hit 3-of-5 on his way to 17 points, 6 rebounds, and 9 assists. Aden Holloway also drilled three on seven attempts.
The biggest three of the night, however, was hit by Grant Nelson. He was only 1-of-5 from downtown for the game, but the one was a huge shot. With the game tied at 80 and under three minutes to play, Mississippi State allowed Nelson to attempt a wide-open corner three with not much of a contest. Nelson splashed the three to give Alabama a lead they wouldn't relinquish down the stretch.
It's hard to overstate how big of a win this is for Alabama as they look to challenge Auburn for the SEC Championship. Alabama has two winnable games in a row coming up with Georgia coming to Tuscaloosa and then a road trip to Fayetteville to face Arkansas. That's Alabama's only two games in the next 13 days before a brutal stretch of eight games to finish the season against elite competition.