Alabama Basketball Bullies Mississippi State to Sweep Season Series

First Half:

• :00 - The half ends on a defensive stop for Alabama. What a half as the Tide leads 47-24. Alabama held Mississippi State to .70 points per possession in the half. 
• :55 - Third time is a charm as Rylan Griffen got three different 3-point attempts on the same possession. Commend the Alabama offensive rebounding as they're up now 9-5 in that department. Alabama is up to 8-29 from deep. The Crimson Tide record for 3-point shots attempted in a game this season is 46 in the loss to Purdue. 
• 1:45 - Mark Sears drains a deep 3-point shot. Alabama is now 7-26 from beyond the arc. 
• 2:24 - Alabama just committed its 10th team foul of the half but so far no one in particular is in foul trouble. 
• 2:53 - State calls a timeout after the Tide continues its hot stretch of offense. Alabama now up 39-22. 
• Alabama Scorers:
• Jarin Stevenson - 9
• Mouhamed Dioubate - 7
• Mark Sears - 6
• Aaron Estrad - 6
• 3:21 - Mouhamed Dioubate complets an old-fashioned three-point play as he physically gets to the rim for a layup and then makes the free-throw. Everything he does is 100 mph. He now has 7 points, 2 rebounds and 1 assist in seven minutes.
• 3:50 - The Coleman lights successfully went from red back to the proper game lighting. The first time game operations has tried that since the debacle against Auburn last week. 
• 4:06 - A bomb from Mark Sears and Coleman comes alive. He's hit his last two from deep. Alabama forces a turnover and the under-4 timeout is the only thing saving the rafters. The Crimson Tide has forced 9 turnovers. Alabama leads 34-22. 
• 5:05 - Mouhamed Diouate is the most physical player on the basketball team and he bangs his way into the lane for a two. He's the epitome of "Blue Collar".
• 5:36 - Jarin Stevenson hits from deep and the Tide takes a 29-20 lead. Alabama is now 5-20 from deep. On the other end the Coleman crowd is counting seconds at the officials as Tolu Smith camps in the lane. 
• 5:57 - Both Sam Walters and Mark Sears see 3-point shots go down and out. This Coleman Coliseum crowd is ready to explode for a make from deep. 
• 7:17 -Alabama's defensive effort creates a shot clock violation as Mouhamed Dioubate swats a 3-point attempt away. 
• 7:48 - D.J. Jeffries takes a hard foul from Latrell Wrightsell and comes up limping. These two teams are playing hard. Alabama is currently 3-16 from the 3-point line and they're being led offensively by Rylan Griffen with 5 points. 
• 8:51 - Mark Sears makes his first 3-point shot of the game and follows it up with a smooth assist to Grant Nelson in transition. Nelson is battling his tail off with Tolu Smith on the block. It almost looks like a mirror image of the game in Starkville as far as style of play. Alabama 23-16.
• 9:38 - Aaron Estrada passes up a 3-pointer but attacks the rim and makes one of the pretties finger roll layups we've seen this year. Alabama 18-16.
• 10:38 - Jimmy Bell called for his second offensive foul on the block as Wague was guarding him. It's been a physical battle on the block when the Bulldogs have the basketball. Alabama has a 16-14 lead at the under-12 timeout. 
• 11:44 - A tough tough possession for State gets another look at the rim. Jimmy Bell cashes in with a dunk to take a 14-12 lead.
• 12:45 - Jimmy Bell makes a bucket on the block for State to tie the game up. 10 of the Bulldogs 12 points have come in the paint and the other two at the free-throw line. 12-12. 
• 14:13 - Wague makes up for his mistake with a bunny bucket on the other end. His impact has been strong so far, 4 points, a steal and a defensive lapse. 
• 14:35 - Mohamed Wague is called for goaltending after Cameron Matthews got fouled. Dumb play from Wague to give State two free points. Matthews misses the  free throw. 
• 15:02 - Sam Walters makes an extra-pass to Jarin Stevenson who makes his first 3-point shot and the Tide retakes the lead 10-8.
• 15:30 - Mohamed Wague enters the game and immediately gets a steal leading to an awkward breakaway dunk for the Tide's first fast break points. 
• 15:50 - Grant Nelson sees his second 3-point attempt go down and out. The big man made two from deep at the end of the Georgia game and has let if freely fly through the early part of the game. He's 0-2, but has one rebound and an assist. Mississippi State 8-5. 
• 16:50 - Tolu Smith scores on Grant Nelson on the block. Smith is 2-3 to start the game. Mississippi State 6-5. 
• 17:21 - Rylan Griffen scores again off an aggressive drive. He has all 5 Alabama points. 
• 18:28 - Tolu Smith's first possession resulted in a bucket on Grant Nelson, but Nelson stepped up and stopped Smith on the second State possession. This is the key defensive matchup for Alabama tonight.
• 19:44 -A perfect start for Alabama. Rylan Griffen drains his first 3-point shot of the game. 

Pregame: 

Tonight's Starters: 

• Max Scharnowski is still getting everyone pumped up in warmups. Those duties were not passed on to Kai Spears, despite Spears being put on scholarship this week. 
• A lively crowd in Coleman Coliseum joins in with the anthem singer . 

Alabama: 

Mark Sears

Rylan Griffen

Latrell Wrightsell

Aaron Estrada

Grant Nelson

Mississippi State:

Shakeel Moore

Josh Hubbard

Cameron Matthews

Tolu Smith III

D.J Jefferies

• The Alabama Student section, Crimson Chaos, just sang "Happy Birthday" to Aaron Estrada. Today is Estrada's 23rd birthday.

Tonight's Officials:

• Terry Oglesby - Head Referee
• Todd Austin - Umpire
• Patrick Evans - Umpire

Notes You Need To Know

• Alabama is ranked in the AP Top-25 (No. 24) and USA Today Coaches Poll (No. 22) for the first time since Nov. 27
• Alabama defeated Mississippi State on the road, 82-74, in the first meeting on Jan. 13
• Alabama has scored 100 points in eight SEC games during the tenure of Nate Oats. The rest of the league has a combined 10 100-point games during that span.
• Alabama has won 13-straight SEC home games at Coliseum, the longest winning streak since 1988
• According to KenPom, Mark Sears ranks No. 10 in the National Player of the Year standings and ranks No. 2 in Barttorvik’s player rankings behind Purdue’s Zach Edey
• Sears is one of two players in Division I and the only Power 5 player that has 420 points, 80 assists, 80 rebounds and 45 three-pointers this season
• Sears ranks No. 1 in the SEC in scoring (20.1 ppg), No. 3 in field goal percentage (52.3) and No. 8 in assists (4.0 apg)
• Sears (21.4 ppg) is one of five SEC players (Tennessee’s Dalton Knecht, 28.4 ppg, Texas A&M’s Wade Taylor IV, 24.4 ppg, Kentucky’s Antonio Reeves, 20.1 ppg and Missouri’s Tamar Bates, 20.1 ppg) that is averaging over 20 points per game during conference play
• Alabama is the only team in the SEC that has two players ranked in the top-five in effective field goal percentage, according to KenPom in Sears (No. 4, 61.6) and Rylan Griffen (No. 5, 60.9)
• The Crimson Tide owns the No. 1 scoring offense in the country (89.4 ppg) and the No. 2-ranked offense, according to KenPom
• The Tide (No. 7) is one of the three SEC teams currently ranked in the top-10 in the NET Rankings
• Alabama is one of three schools (Purdue and Wright State) in the country that has two players on its current roster that has scored at least 1,700 points throughout their career in Sears (1,776 points) and Estrada (1,743 points)

About Mississippi State

• The last three home games versus Mississippi State have been decided by single-digits, all within eight points or less (Alabama is 3-0)
• Only 13 times in 54 games (24.1 percent) have teams reached the 70-point mark against State over the last two seasons. Alabama and Tennessee are the only teams to have done it on three occasions.
• The Bulldogs possesses NCAA top 50 marks in 6 categories: three-point field goal percentage defense (27.7 • 1st SEC • 6th nation), bench points (30.85 • 4th SEC • 17th nation), rebound margin (+6.8 • 3rd SEC • 27th nation, field goal percentage defense (40.1 • 3rd SEC • 32nd nation), scoring defense (66.0 • 3rd SEC • 44th nation) and rebounds (39.50 • 5th SEC • 47th nation).
• Mississippi State is one of three SEC teams (Kentucky and South Carolina) with two wins over AP Top-10 opponents this season
• Mississippi State’s Tolu Smith III and Josh Hubbard are tied at No. 10 in scoring (16.3 ppg) during SEC contests and is the only SEC team that has two players rank in the top-10 in scoring during conference play
• State is 9-1 this season and 17-3 over the last two seasons under Coach Jans when making 15 or more free throws