The Alabama Crimson Tide absolutely dominated the Mississippi State Bulldogs by a score of 100-75 in Coleman Coliseum Wednesday night — the team’s seventh straight victory headed into the final stretch of the regular season.
It was an offensive explosion made even more impressive by the fact that the Tide was without its best scorer in Labaron Philon Jr., who was out due to injury. Alabama led by 30 points at halftime after a 63-point first half, which was the highest scoring frame this season for the team.
It was the eighth time the Tide has reached 100 points in a game this season as well.
“I thought the first half was the best half of basketball we’ve played all year and the ball moved well with (Labaron) Philon out,” Nate Oats said after the game. “Amari (Allen) was hitting threes, and as a team, we shot it well. In the second half, I was a little disappointed with the leadership. I thought we played the scoreboard too much. I was super encouraged with our mentality going into the game and our defense on Josh Hubbard who ended up with 11.”
“I thought Holloway, outside of the turnovers, had a great game. Sixteen (points), 10 (assists) and seven (rebounds) being three rebounds away from a triple-double. For Philon to be out, Holloway stepped up big. Latrell (Wrightsell Jr.) scored really well again with 18 and Amari had his best shooting night of the season.”
Alabama is now 11-4 in conference play with just three games remaining, including a huge road trip to Knoxville this weekend sitting one game ahead of Tennessee in the standings. Should the Tide be able to end its losing streak against the Volunteers, it will be in a great spot to potentially finish second in the conference.
The game will be played February 28 at 5:00 p.m. CST on ESPN.
Michael Brauner is a Senior Sports Analyst and Contributing Writer for Yellowhammer News. You can follow him on Twitter @MBraunerWNSP and hear him every weekday morning from 6 to 9 a.m. on “The Opening Kickoff” on WNSP-FM 105.5, available free online.

