Sophomores Aden Holloway and Mouhamed Dioubate came off the bench and paced Alabama basketball to a 103-87 win over the Vanderbilt Commodores on Tuesday night at Coleman Coliseum in frigid Tuscaloosa.
The standout sophomore duo helped the Tide avoid the malaise that plagued them a week ago in a home loss to Ole Miss.
Vanderbilt opened the game on a 7-2 run, but Alabama went on a 20-4 run after that and never really looked back. The 'Dores made a series of mini pushes in the second half, but could never get over the hump. After every Vanderbilt run, it was either Dioubate making a strong move at the rim for a basket or Holloway splashing a three.
Holloway led the Crimson Tide in scoring with 22 points. Dioubate, who usually doesn't make a big splash in the box score, scored a career-high 22 points and grabbed 10 rebounds to go along with a couple of blocked shots and a steal. They combined to go 16-of-20 from the floor.
Mark Sears joined them in double-figures with 21 points. He surpassed 2500 career points, becoming the 82nd player in college basketball history to accomplish that feat.
3 Takeaways from Alabama's win over Vanderbilt
3. Alabama's inability to finish off opponents is concerning
Alabama is one of the least streaky teams in college basketball. That's not a bad thing, but the Crimson Tide has also struggled to finish off teams. Per EvanMiya, they have one of the lowest "kill shot" ratios in college basketball.
The "Kill Shot": Tracking double digit scoring runs in games (10-0 or better) over the course of the season.
— Evan Miyakawa (@EvanMiya) January 15, 2025
Here's the landscape of all https://t.co/cegyfz96ax top 75 teams in terms of runs scored and runs conceded, adjusted for strength of opponent👇🧵 pic.twitter.com/8wGyPoVSSC
Alabama saw a 19-point second half lead evaporate and let Vanderbilt get it all the way down to 8 points. Of course, following that Alabama went on a 10-0 run to finally put the pesky Commodores away, but it should have happened before that.
It hasn't hurt Alabama yet, but it is something to keep an eye on.
2. Mo Dioubate continues to thrive
It was the best statistical output of Mo Dioubate's career. He finished with a double-double of 22 points and 10 rebounds on 8-of-9 shooting from the floor. He was his normal blue-collar self, making big plays with his hustle, but he added in a scoring effort as the Tide took advantage of his mismatch advantage on Vanderbilt in the post.
He had a sequence in the second half that was particularly memorable. He blocked a shot going to the rim when he got switched onto a Vanderbilt guard, with the Commodores incorrectly believing they had a mismatch. Dioubate is not mismatched against anyone.
He rejected the shot out of bounds. On the ensuing inbounds pass, Dioubate knocked it away into the backcourt and chased it down. He saved the ball and it ended up in Chris Youngblood's hands, who ultimately got fouled.
It'll be another hard hat win for Dioubate, but his offensive game continues to grow and he continues to earn more minutes.
1. Aden Holloway is on fire
I'm not sure "on fire" is a strong enough term for the way Holloway has been shooting the basketball in SEC play. He's 13-of-23 (56.5%) from three in Alabama's six SEC games so far. He connected on 4-of-6 from deep against Vanderbilt on his way to 22 points.
Holloway's improvement at the rim has certainly helped him get more space to shoot threes this season. Teams can't extend too far on him because he's quicker than most guards and his touch around the basket has been elite.
But he's also taking good shots. Even with as hot as he has been, he's not taking a bunch of heat check looks. Early in the year he was impatiently trying to find his shot and was taking a lot of shots off the bounce, which isn't his strong suit. Now, he's letting each game come to him and he's getting more catch-and-shoot chances.
As a result, Holloway looks like the best three-point shooter in the country and significantly increases the ceiling of Alabama's offense.