Alabama beats Houston in OT: What did we learn from the Top 10 Players Era duel?

The Alabama and Houston men’s basketball programs are no strangers, having met twice in the last three years as they battled for position as national contenders, both narrow Crimson Tide victories. In an overtime slugfest on the opening night of the Players Era Festival in Las Vegas, Alabama prevailed for the third straight time, limiting the Cougars to just two points en route to an 85-80 overtime victory.

“It felt like a Final Four game,” said Alabama guard Mark Sears, who countered a 30-point night by Houston star LJ Cryer with 24 points to set the pace.

It’s the second big win this year for Alabama, which beat Illinois in Birmingham last week, and the second top-10 loss in the early stages of the nonconference for Houston, which lost to Auburn two weeks ago.

Another test is coming up for both teams in less than 24 hours. Alabama plays Rutgers tomorrow night while Houston plays Notre Dame.

Career night for Cryer, but he’s struggling in the home stretch

Cryer, the preseason All-American, was the best player on the field, and his 19 second-half points were crucial considering Houston was shorthanded down the stretch. Starting point guard Milos Uzan was fouled just 12 minutes into the game, and without its primary ball-handler, Houston turned to its senior leader to handle the offense.

Houston used Cryer in demanding screen-and-roll situations in the second half, and he methodically consumed the game clock while picking up mismatches off screens and taking his spots on the court. But Cryer went cold late and Houston had no other answer.

Cryer missed his final eight shots and Houston ended the game on a 3:17 losing streak.

Mark Sears breaks out and Aden Holloway continues to impress

Sears, the SEC preseason player of the year, had a scoreless performance against Illinois last week. It’s a luxury to have a team so strong that it doesn’t matter, but getting Sears back on track is important to Alabama’s long-term goals. It looked like his troubles had followed him to Las Vegas with just eight points in the first half, but he found his rhythm in the second half with 16 points and hit 4 of 8 from 3-point range.

“The first thing I think he needs to understand is that it’s going to be a lot different for him than any other year in college,” coach Nate Oats said Monday. “People are going to design their defense to stop him. He might have a game where he plays incredibly well and only scores five points, but he moves the ball, he draws so much attention and makes it easier for his teammates.

“I think, firstly, he has to stop pressing. He won’t average as many points this year as he did last year. We knew that coming in. We have more talent around him. That’s exactly it. He has to do everything he can to help us win games.”

What Sears did well was get to the free throw line, where he made 12 of 14 shots. Then he started to find his shot down the stretch, hitting two big three-pointers in the second half that set the pace.

Meanwhile, Auburn transfer Aden Holloway continued his impressive start to his Alabama career with 14 points, 3 rebounds and 3 assists. Holloway completed 26 minutes and was part of Nate Oats’ finishing line-up on the home stretch. Alabama’s improved guard play compared to last year takes some of the pressure off Sears. If he gets back into form and Holloway continues to make a jump into year two, this backcourt can reach new levels.

Houston played the game it wanted, but one point hurt its chances

Defensive rebounds were a problem for Alabama on Tuesday after they gave up 14 offensive rebounds to Illinois and 10 to Purdue. But for all of Houston’s strengths, size isn’t one of them. The Cougars don’t have a player taller than 6-foot-9 in their rotation, which caused problems against an Alabama team that plays several players over 6-11 and taller. The result was Alabama posting a plus-9 rebounding advantage, including 20 offensive rebounds and 15 second-chance points.

Dioubate’s star rose thanks to his inspired play during last year’s tournament, including an 8-0 run that put Alabama over the Grand Canyon in the Round of 32. Dioubate only played three minutes in Alabama’s last game against Illinois, but his play on Tuesday night was a catalyst.

Dioubate posted a double-double: 10 points and 16 rebounds to go with three blocks. At 11:57 of the second half, Dioubate blocked Houston’s Mylik Wilson, giving Alabama a transition opportunity that ended with a Latrell Wrightsell 3, extending the lead to 56-50. Dioubate continued making plays until the end, scoring a layup in overtime to extend Alabama’s lead to 84-80. He then simultaneously blocked and rebounded a Houston shot with under 30 seconds left to secure the win.

EXPLOSIVE GAMES ON BOTH ENDS FOR ALABAMA 🔥

The Tide open a 6-point cushion 👀 @AlabamaMBB pic.twitter.com/GCjYbRUlRF

— NCAA March Madness (@MarchMadnessMBB) November 27, 2024

Against a team like Houston, Dioubate was the perfect fit because he brought versatility, toughness, defense and good decision-making ability. There are games where Dioubate’s play doesn’t show up in the stats, and there are even games where he may not play a role at all, but he showed again on Tuesday that he can be counted on in big moments. For a team aiming for another Final Four appearance, contributors like this are crucial.

(Photo: Candice Ward/Getty Images)