Alabama basketball won its seventh straight SEC game behind its best shooting half with 16 first-half threes to win 100-75 over Mississippi State.
Alabama Basketball sweeps the season series over Mississippi State for the fourth straight season.
Alabama was without its leading scorer, Labaron Philon Jr., which allowed Jalil Bethea to get more minutes with 20 minutes on the night to finish with five points and four rebounds.
“We’ll see if we can get him healthy for Saturday,” said head coach Nate Oats on Philon.
The Tide eclipsed the century mark for the third time this month and for the eighth time this season.
Between the two matchups, Alabama scored 197 points.
Taylor Bol Bowen looked more comfortable offensively after the hand injury, scoring 10 points and grabbing six rebounds.
A much sloppier game once it was out of reach, with 13 turnovers on offense.
“I didn’t like the ball movement in the second half,” said Oats.
Oats picked up another technical foul in the second half.
Flamethrower first half from 3
Alabama basketball started the game with its first five makes from the floor coming from three before a free throw was made at the 14:32 mark of the first half.
“I thought the first half was the best basketball we’ve played all year, so that’s encouraging,” said Oats.
The ball did not stick, and it was moving with 14 first-half assists on 20 field goals.
Seven different guys made at least one three-pointer in the first half, with Amari Allen leading the charge with a perfect 5-5 on the half.
The Tide finished with 16 first-half threes and held the Bulldogs to just 32% from the floor in what was a near-perfect half, execution wise.
Aden Holloway, Amari Allen, and Latrell Wrightsell Jr. step up in Philon’s absence
When Allen made a near half-court shot for an and-one three from near half-court, the team felt every shot would fall.
Allen would end the game with 23 points on 80% shooting with five rebounds as the Freshman continues to light the eyes of the NBA scouts.
Latrell Wrightsell Jr. had another big game offensively, finishing with 18 points, six rebounds, and five assists, and brought the Senior leadership in the absence of its leader.
Aden Holloway was all over the scoresheet and tied a career-high in assists with 10 and had 16 points with a season-high seven rebounds in a near triple-double.
Holloway and Wrightsell combined for half the team’s turnovers.
“We’re gonna need Holloway, Wrightsell, and Amari to continue to play like they did tonight, just without the turnovers. I thought they were pretty good,” said Oats.
Alabama limits Josh Hubbard and Jayden Epps defensively
Josh Hubbard was coming off a 46-point performance last week against Auburn, and the Tide knew it was going to have to limit one of the top scorers in the SEC and did so.
Hubbard was held to 11 points on 4-13 shooting from the floor.
Jayden Epps was a game-time decision and also struggled offensively as the team’s second leading scorer was also held to just eight points on 3-12 from the floor.
Outside of the two, the rest of the team picked up the slack offensively and were able to hit 15 threes, and a big reason for the game being out of hand was the Tide’s job on the two guards.
Next for Mississippi State (13-15): vs. Missouri (Sat., Feb. 28 at 1 p.m. EST)
Next for Alabama basketball (21-7): at Tennessee (Sat., Feb. 21 at 6 p.m. EST)