No. 17 Alabama completes season sweep against Mississippi State
Amari Allen scored 23 points and made a career-best six 3-pointers to lead No. 17 Alabama to a 100-75 victory over Mississippi State on Wednesday night in Southeastern Conference play at Tuscaloosa, Ala.
Latrell Wrightsell Jr. registered 18 points, six rebounds and five assists and Aden Holloway added 16 points, matched his season best of 10 assists and added six rebounds as the Crimson Tide (21-7, 11-4 SEC) extended their season-best winning streak to seven.
Alabama played without star guard Labaraon Philon Jr., who is dealing with a left groin/thigh injury.
The Crimson Tide matched a season-best with 22 3-pointers, three shy of the school mark set against BYU in the Sweet 16 of last season's NCAA Tournament. National scoring leader Alabama reached 100 points for the eighth time this season.
Achor Achor had 18 points and seven rebounds for the Bulldogs (13-15, 5-10). King Grace added 13 points for Mississippi State, which lost for the 10th time in 13 games.
Bulldogs star Josh Hubbard had just 11 points on 4-of-13 shooting. Hubbard scored a program-record 46 points one week ago against Auburn.
Alabama defeated Mississippi State for the 10th consecutive time.
Aiden Sherrell added 11 points and Taylor Bol Bowen had 10 for the Crimson Tide, which shot 47.9% from the field, 44% from 3-point range and held a 48-36 rebounding edge.
Alabama made 16 of 27 3-pointers in the first half while running and gunning to a 63-33 lead at the break. Allen made all five of his 3-point attempts while scoring 18 points in the half. Holloway added 14 points.
The Crimson Tide made five quick 3-pointers to lead 15-2 just four-plus minutes into the game.
Holloway drained a trey to cap an 8-0 burst and give Alabama a 32-15 advantage with 10:07 remaining. The lead reached 25 when Wrightsell knocked down a trey to make it 47-22 with 5:58 left.
Hubbard struggled in the first half and had just three points on 1-of-6 shooting.
Early in the second half, Wrightsell connected on two treys and Allen made one as the Crimson Tide's lead grew to 72-37.
A dunk by Bowen pushed the lead to 79-40 with 14:45 left in the game.
The Bulldogs put together a strong stretch by scoring 25 of the next 30 points. Hubbard scored the final five points as the Bulldogs moved within 84-65 with 5:08 left.
Alabama rediscovered its form with a 9-0 run en route to closing out the victory.