Alabama basketball wins thriller over Houston in OT in Players Era Festival

No. 9 Alabama basketball improved to 5-1 on the season with a thrilling 85-80 overtime win over No. 6 Houston in Las Vegas in the opening round of the first-annual Players Era Festival.

Mark Sears hit a three-pointer with 8:53 to go in the game to give Alabama a 62-54 lead. It looked like the Crimson Tide was about to pull away and cruise. Anyone watching should have known better with a Kelvin Sampson-coached team on the other end.

From there, Alabama went on an offensive drought and didn't hit another field goal for six minutes. At that point, Alabama was trailing by four.

The Crimson Tide trailed by four points with less than a minute to go. Sears splashed another three at the top of the key to cut the Houston lead to 77-76. Latrell Wrightsell hit a pair of free throws to tie the game and then the Tide locked down defensively on the final possession to force overtime. As he did all game, it was Mo Dioubate with a key play and defensive rebound to force the extra period. He also very nearly made the full-court shot to win the game.

Tied at 78, Alabama outscored Houston 7-2 in overtime to win 85-80. Sears hit a three and Dioubate made a layup around free throws from Grant Nelson and Derrion Reid. Alabama locked up defensively, with no moment bigger than Reid's block of Joseph Tuggler at the rim with the Tide leading by four and under 30 seconds to play.

3 Takeaways from Alabama's win over Houston:

3. Mo Dioubate's value was on full display

I said in the preseason that despite how deep Alabama was, sophomore Mo Dioubate was going to carve out a role on this team. He does too many of the little things and makes too many winning plays to sit on the bench. A physical Houston squad is tailor-made for Dioubate's strengths, and Nate Oats had the sophomore out there for 28 minutes and all of the stretch run.

Dioubate responded with a double-double of 10 points and 16 rebounds. He added a steal and three blocked shots.

Oats usually hands out the hard hat in the locker room for the winner of the blue-collar points. He handed it to Dioubate tonight as soon as the buzzer sounded.

When you play the Cougars, you have to match their physicality. Dioubate helped Alabama do that. The game was won on the boards, keyed by Dioubate's 16. Alabama outrebounded Houston 48-39 and grabbed 20 offensive boards. That was key in a game the Crimson Tide only shot 36% in.

2. Welcome back Mark Sears

Sears had an uneven start to the game and missed his first few shots and had a couple of turnovers, but he finally saw the lid come off the rim with a three-pointer in the first half. He hit two big shots - one a three with under a minute to play to cut the Houston lead to one, and then the three-pointer in overtime that gave Alabama the lead for good.

Sears finished with 24 points, doing the bulk of his damage from the free-throw line. It was still a below-standard shooting night for the graduate senior. He was 4/13 from the field, though he connected on 4/8 from three.

Hopefully this performance reminds Sears who he is, and he uses it as a springboard toward the type of season that was expected from the preseason National Player of the Year.

1. That effort and that defense can carry Alabama all the way

Alabama just beat the No. 6 team in the country on a neutral floor on a night they shot 36% from the field. It helps they also shot 36% from three, but they also turned the ball over 14 times and missed 11 free throws. It was far from an A+ effort for the Tide's offense.

It was Alabama's energy and effort on defense and on the glass that won the day. You know you have to bring the effort against a Sampson-coached team. They don't lose many battles on the glass. This game was the embodiment of Oats' blue-collar style.

Alabama held Houston to 1.05 PPP (points per possession) and gave up just two points in overtime to hand the Cougars the loss.

This kind of effort on the defensive end of the floor and on the glass can carry Alabama all the way this season. The offensive explosions will come, but defense travels.

Next up is a 9pm tip off tomorrow night against Rutgers.