As Alabama Basketball won its 10th in its last eleven games on Tuesday night, it was clear the Crimson Tide is a better team than Vanderbilt. Mo Dioubate, Mark Sears, and Aden Holloway led the Alabama Crimson Tide to a 103-87 win over the Vanderbilt Commodores. Dioubate and Holloway scored 22 points each. Mark Sears was close behind with 21 points. There was much for Nate Oats to love and one thing he had good reason to hate.
Dioubate played 23 minutes; just the third game in his Alabama career in which he played 20-plus minutes. Mo added 10 rebounds, two blocks, an assist, and a steal. Talking about Dioubate, Nate Oats said, "Huge game for Mo. Only five players have had 20+ points and 10+ rebounds since I've been here...You kinda know what you're gonna get from Mo."
Holloway was equally impressive as was his bench teammate. Aden got 20 of his 22 points from only 11 field goal attempts. Overall he shot 72.7%, including 66.7% from outside the arc. He added four rebounds, an assist, and a block. Oats said of his sophomore guard, "He's shooting the ball extremely well. He's hitting that floater in the lane, he's hitting his threes. ... I never want him to pass up an open three. I don't care if it's 26, 28 feet."
Early in the Vandy game, Mark Sears crossed the 2,500 career points threshold. Sears is the 82nd player in Division 1 basketball history to reach the 2,500 points plateau. He is the only Alabama Crimson Tide to reach the milestone. Nate Oats talked at length about Sears in his post-game comments. Check out the video below.
Nate Oats spoke for nearly three minutes about Muscle Shoals native Mark Sears tonight.
— Max Cohan (@MaxCohan) January 22, 2025
Take a listen.
(📹: University of Alabama) pic.twitter.com/djS0MuvaWi
Against Vandy, Sears did not scorch the nets like Holloway. He made just one of two threes and overall shot 41.6% from the field. He was 10-for-13 at the foul line and had seven assists in 30 minutes of play, with zero turnovers. Mark Sears does not have the physical attributes of Mo Dioubate and other Alabama players. He does not glide to baskets as Aden Holloway often appears to do. What Sears does is outwork the hardest workers and every achievement he gains is well deserved.
One Alabama Basketball Flaw
Nate Oats was not happy about everything Tuesday night. He gave his team an 'F' grade for the second-half defense that gave up 56 points to the Commodores. Oats said, "The effort we got in the second half is not going to win us any championships." Oats included a one-word description of Alabama's second-half defensive play, calling it "disgusting."