Alabama men’s basketball team secured a 97-82 victory over Mississippi State on Tuesday night at Humphrey Coliseum, overcoming a 14-point first half deficit. This win marks Alabama’s first Southeastern Conference road win of the season and extends their winning streak against Mississippi State to nine games.
Labaron Philon Jr. led the Crimson Tide with a career-high 32 points. Aiden Sherrell also posted a personal best with 22 points, along with five rebounds and two blocks. Amari Allen contributed 13 points and 13 rebounds, recording his fourth double-double of the season.
Mississippi State was led by Josh Hubbard, who scored 23 points in the loss.
Following the game, Alabama head coach Nate Oats said: “Big road win and Mississippi State has been playing well lately. They were ahead of us in the league and they beat Texas, who we just lost to, and they have the leading scorer in the league (Josh Hubbard) who is a super talented player. For us to come in here and figure out a way to get a road win with the number of bodies we had tonight shows a lot about who our guys are and the character they have and how hard they play. I couldn’t be more proud of the group and for eight guys to go the bulk of the minutes.
Labaron (Philon Jr.) and (Aden) Holloway both played significantly better on defense, which we challenged them to do, and they did a good job with Hubbard only having five in the first half. He got loose in the second half and finds a way to get his points but by the time he got going, we had a 20-point lead. I tell they guys we are facing adversity and it makes you better.”
Alabama finished with only five turnovers for the game, matching its single-game low for this season achieved previously against Yale and UTSA. The team outrebounded Mississippi State 47-43 while registering 14 assists on 29 made field goals.
The margin of victory—15 points—is Alabama’s largest at Mississippi State under coach Nate Oats since their win during the 2012-13 season.
In game progression, Mississippi State established an early double-digit lead before Alabama closed out the first half on a strong run to take a narrow halftime advantage. Philon Jr.’s performance was pivotal as he scored 12 points in the first half before adding another 20 after halftime.
The Crimson Tide built momentum early in the second half by taking their first double-digit lead less than two minutes after play resumed. Their largest lead reached 22 points midway through that period.
Alabama will continue its road trip Saturday when it faces Oklahoma at Lloyd Noble Center at noon Central Time; coverage will be available on SEC Network.
