BamaCentral Courtside: Alabama 103, Vanderbilt 87

The Crimson Tide took down the Commodores at home on Tuesday evening.

Jan 21, 2025; Tuscaloosa, Alabama, USA; Alabama Crimson Tide forward Mouhamed Dioubate (10) drives the ball against Vanderbilt Commodores guard Jason Edwards (1) during the first half at Coleman Coliseum. Mandatory Credit: Will McLelland-Imagn Images | Will McLelland-Imagn Images

TUSCALOOSA, Ala.— It appears that No. 4 Alabama men's basketball has grown and learned from the drastic mistakes last week against Ole Miss.

Alabama followed the "disgusting" home loss to the Rebels with a thrilling road win against Kentucky, but head coach Nate Oats still had the sour Ole Miss taste in his mouth. Practice went a little longer than usual on Monday in preparation for a home game against Vanderbilt, and it seemed to pay off.

The Crimson Tide (16-3, 5-1 SEC) steamrolled Vanderbilt (15-4, 3-3 SEC) 103-85 on Tuesday evening in Coleman Coliseum.

After a somewhat slow beginning for the starters, Alabama's bench subbed in and caught fire quickly. Crimson Tide sixth-man Aden Holloway scored 16 points on 6-for-6 from the field in the first half, while bench forward Mouhamed Dioubate's perfection from the field created nine points and six rebounds.

The Crimson Tide starters were outscored by the bench in the first half, but Preseason All-American guard Mark Sears contributed 10 points on 3-for-6 shooting. One of those buckets tallied Sears' career point total to 2,500. He's only the 82nd player in Division I history to do so.

Vanderbilt came into this game among the top of the country in points off turnovers, but Alabama did a very solid job in transition (eight points allowed) despite its 11 giveaways.

Sears (21 points), forward Jarin Stevenson (10) and forward Grant Nelson (10) were the starters who joined the double-digit scorers club to close the night, joining the bench duo of Holloway (22) and Dioubate (22).

Alabama finished the game shooting 36-for-64 (56.3 percent) from the field, including an 8-for-22 clip from behind the arc (36.4 percent). The Crimson Tide led in numerous other stat categories, such as blocks, points in the paint, bench points and more.

But Alabama took its foot off the gas a bit in the second half, and the numbers on the offensive glass (nine offensive rebounds) and free-throw conversions (68 percent) are something to work on ahead of the Tide's next game at home against LSU.

Watch the above video as BamaCentral writers Will Miller and Hunter De Siver share their final thoughts and takeaways after the Crimson Tide's home victory over Vanderbilt.