BamaCentral Courtside: No. 6 Alabama 111, No. 24 Mississippi State 73

The Crimson Tide obliterated the Bulldogs from start to finish, leading it to take over the No. 2 spot in the SEC standings.

Feb 25, 2025; Tuscaloosa, Alabama, USA; Alabama Crimson Tide guard Labaron Philon (0) drives against Mississippi State Bulldogs forward Cameron Matthews (4) during the second half at Coleman Coliseum. Mandatory Credit: Will McLelland-Imagn Images | Will McLelland-Imagn Images

TUSCALOOSA, Ala.— No. 6 Alabama men's basketball obliterated No. 24 Mississippi State 111-73 at home on Tuesday night.

Alabama has been the victim of rough starts over the past few games and it's dictated the outcome in a couple of them. However, this was not the case against the Bulldogs as after creating a 19-9 lead midway through the first half, the Crimson Tide never looked back and only built on the margin.

Alabama's backcourt duo of Mark Sears and Chris Youngblood combined for 28 of the Tide's 53 points at halftime. Mississippi State as a whole had 27 at the break. Tide Hoops took its foot slightly off the pedal in the second period, mainly to chew the clock, but Youngblood's 27 points on 7-for-11 from deep are a new Alabama career-high.

Youngblood's previous best outing while with the Crimson Tide was also against Mississippi State as the offseason transfer scored 23 points on a jaw-dropping 7-for-10 from behind the arc. Safe to say he likes to face the Bulldogs.

Alabama head coach Nate Oats has been adamant throughout the season about playing just one game to practically perfection for a full 40 minutes. Oats explained during the postgame press conference that the Tide's defensive intensity was lacking in the second half, but when you go up by as much as 38, it's easy to take your foot off the pedal a little bit.

Oats said on Monday that he mainly wanted to see the defensive intensity increase and his team seemed to fulfill that request as it held Mississippi State to just 73 points––seven less than the average night.

Alabama moves up to 26-5 and its new 12-3 record boosts the Tide to the No. 2 spot in the SEC following No. 3 Florida's (11-4 SEC) loss to Georgia right a bit after Alabama-Mississippi State tipped off.

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 win over Mississippi State.