| MBB/WBB 🏀 Bama vs Mississippi State 🏀 ~ Defense Pulls Out Road Win at Mississippi State, 82-74

TUSCALOOSA, Ala. – The Alabama men's basketball team looks to improve to 3-0 in the Southeastern Conference as the Crimson Tide travels to Starkville, Miss., to face Mississippi State Saturday night at Humphrey Coliseum.

For the second straight game, the Crimson Tide will face the SEC's top scoring defense as the Bulldogs are allowing a league-best 63.7 points per game, which ranks No. 24 in the country. In the four contests at Mississippi State under Nate Oats, games have been decided by an average of 6.3 points.

The Broadcast​

Saturday's game is set for a 7:30 p.m. CT tipoff and will be aired on the SEC Network with Dave Neal (play-by-play) and Jon Sundvold (analyst) on the call.

The radio broadcast can be heard on the Crimson Tide Sports Network with Chris Stewart (play-by-play) and Bryan Passink (analyst) on the call, while Tom Stipe (engineer) is turning the dials. The pregame show will begin one hour prior to tipoff.

Men's Basketball Looks to Improve to 3-0 in the SEC Saturday Night at Mississippi State - Alabama Athletics

The Alabama men's basketball team looks to improve to 3-0 in the Southeastern Conference as the Crimson Tide travels to Starkville, Miss., to face Mississip...

rolltide.com

 

[rick4bama]

Who next?

 

[bamafan9201]

Glad we closed it out strong. Good win against a good team on the road very nice way to keep momentum going

 

[Brandon Van de Graaff]

Bama gets Missouri at home on Tuesday night... a really good opportunity to start 4-0 in league play before heading to Knoxville then a home game against a very good auburn team. The SEC slate for UA has been favorable so far, but banking those first 4 wins would be really nice.

 

[mando]

Did not get to see the game. Was skeptical they could get this road win but it is great they did. They need to win their home games and go at least split on the road. Good start so far hope they can keep it up so they can overcome not winning any of those 5 Quad 1 games.

 

[Brandon Van de Graaff]

 

[Brandon Van de Graaff]

 

[UA Press Release]

Alabama’s Defense Pulls Out Road Win at Mississippi State, 82-74 - University of Alabama Athletics

For the third time under head coach Nate Oats, the Alabama men's basketball team improved to 3-0 in the Southeastern Conference.

rolltide.com

STARKVILLE, Miss. – For the third time under head coach Nate Oats, the Alabama men's basketball team improved to 3-0 in the Southeastern Conference with an 82-74 win on the road over Mississippi State Saturday night at Humphrey Coliseum. The Crimson Tide's (11-5, 3-0 SEC) defense sealed the victory as UA did not allow the Bulldogs to score for the final 2:42 of the game.

Alabama's backcourt was dominant against Mississippi State (12-4, 1-2 SEC) with Mark Sears (22 points), Latrell Wrightsell Jr. (19 points) and Rylan Griffen (17 points) combining to score 58 of UA's 82 points on the night.

The Bulldogs had three players score double-figures led by Tolu Smith III's 15 points.

Head Coach Nate Oats Postgame Comments​

"This is a tough place and to get a win. Coach Jans is one of the best coaches in the country with coaching defense and toughness. This is one of the tougher teams and you saw that when they beat Tennessee here. For us to come in here and get a big win is huge. We had some guys really step up defensively I thought Latrell (Wrightsell Jr.) was one of them. I thought Grant Nelson's defense on Tolu (Smith III) was huge for us and Rylan (Griffen) is starting to come around and really guard and is playing well. Obviously, it wasn't one of our better offensive games but it is good to win on the road when you don't play great on offense all the time. We made free throws too; our four guards went 16/16 from the FT line. Between Latrell, Rylan, Mark (Sears) and Aaron (Estrada) they didn't miss a free throw. A lot of positives, we had them outrebounded for the majority of the game, we ended up losing by one but for a team that rebounds as well as they do, I thought that we did a really great job most of the game."

UP NEXT​

• Alabama will return to Tuscaloosa as UA welcomes Missouri Tuesday night at Coleman Coliseum
• The Crimson Tide and Tigers will tip-off at 6 p.m. CT with the contest airing live on the SEC Network

 

[TerryP]

Good start so far hope they can keep it up so they can overcome not winning any of those 5 Quad 1 games.

As of Friday's action they are a few wins away from being a #1 seed in the NET rankings. Right now, #5 with AU and UT also in the two slots.

Two of the top four lost yesterday: #1 Houston and #2 Arizona.

 

[bamafan9201]

As of Friday's action they are a few wins away from being a #1 seed in the NET rankings. Right now, #5 with AU and UT also in the two slots.

Two of the top four lost yesterday: #1 Houston and #2 Arizona.

Yea a win over UT and AU probably shoots them well into the top 25. I do worry the perception of the pundits/media is that the SEC is down this year but I think they're a much better league top to bottom this year than last.

 

[50+yeartidefan]

Yea a win over UT and AU probably shoots them well into the top 25. I do worry the perception of the pundits/media is that the SEC is down this year but I think they're a much better league top to bottom this year than last.

One of either ?

 

[kbama15]

I been so caught up with Saban retiring and Coaching changes, I’ve completely forgotten about the Basketball team! Great win! Roll Tide!

 

[mando]

One of either ?

I am with you @50+yeartidefan lets win both . That is going to be a tough challenge however. The Barners are playing really well and with a lot of attitude/arrogance. Hope that bites them in the rear end but you know they want revenge over Oats and last year.

 

[Bammerboy321]

Staying away from the gamethreads, as I have a tendency to post way too emotionally. Regardless, phew. Big win. Not only for our NET, but we've been bullied against physical teams since the S16 last season. State was a huge challenge on the road. Alabama made them play at their pace and it wore them down.

It seems Mohammed Dioubate is going to be our glue guy. Loving his game so far. Also think Stevenson is coming along slowly. But Rylan has made the biggest step forward since conference play started.

We got dominated on the glass when it came to 2nd chance opportunities, and I think that kept State in the game more than anything. Thankfully they sucked at FTs again.

 

[It Takes Eleven]

Bama gets Missouri at home on Tuesday night... a really good opportunity to start 4-0 in league play before heading to Knoxville then a home game against a very good auburn team. The SEC slate for UA has been favorable so far, but banking those first 4 wins would be really nice.

Who accepts the Foy, Saban? It would be worth squeezing into Coleman to see perhaps his last act as head coach.

 

[It Takes Eleven]

If Saban is there to accept the Foy and give one more talk, I'll be there. The game's a sellout, no surprise, SeatGeek has them pretty expensive, but I went ahead and snagged a pair.

 

[Brandon Van de Graaff]

If Saban is there to accept the Foy and give one more talk, I'll be there. The game's a sellout, no surprise, SeatGeek has them pretty expensive, but I went ahead and snagged a pair.

I'm having brain fog on it, but I'm not sure they do it that way anymore.

 

[It Takes Eleven]

I'm having brain fog on it, but I'm not sure they do it that way anymore.

bummer.