No Philon, No Problem: Alabama Offense Explodes in Win over Mississippi State

TUSCALOOSA, Ala.— Alabama was without its leading scorer for just the second time this season as Labaron Philon Jr. was held out with a leg injury. Last time Philon was unavailable, the Crimson Tide was facing Yale, but it would be a little more challenging on Wednesday night. Alabama was going up against SEC foe Mississippi State and the league's second-leading scorer Josh Hubbard.

Based on Alabama's performance and the final score, you never would've known the Crimson Tide was without Philon as No. 17 Alabama cruised to a 100-75 win over Mississippi State inside Coleman Coliseum. It was the eighth time this season that the Tide has reached the century mark in a game.

"He's obviously a great player and arguably the head of the snake, but it didn't seem like from where I sat that they a beat," Mississippi State head coach said after the game. "They've got great depth and a lot of good players that can score in their own way."

Nate Oats had multiple players step up big in Philon's absence, and every scholarship player that played made at least one 3-pointer except for Noah Williamson. Alabama drained 16 3s in the first half alone and finished with 22 made shots from beyond the arc, tying the season record.

Philon is one of Alabama's best 3-point shooters, but both times the Tide has played without him, the team has made 22 3-pointers. Oats joked that he might sit Philon just to see how well the team can shoot.

Amari Allen, Latrell Wrightsell Jr., Aden Holloway, Aiden Sherrell and Taylor Bol Bowen all finished in double figures. Allen led the charge with 23 points after making his first six 3-point attempts to start the game. Holloway had his second double-double of the season with 16 points and 10 assists.

"Obviously, Labaron’s our leadings scorer so some guys were gonna have to score some more tonight," Allen said. "We had five or six guys in double figures, so I feel like we knew that we had to come out and fill the role that Labaron has, and I feel like we did a good job of it."

Before the game, Oats told the Crimson Tide Sports Network that Philon is "game to game" with his leg injury. While he was unable to participate, Philon was an active member on the bench cheering on and encouraging his teammates.

"To have confidence in all of your guys to play well and play the amount of minutes they did so Philon can rest is great," Oats said. "And we looked pretty good without him. The ball moved really well."

Alabama (21-7, 11-5 SEC) has now won seven games in a row and will travel to face No. 22 Tennessee (20-8, 10-5 SEC) this weekend with NCAA and SEC tournament seeding implications on the line. The Tide is hoping to get Philon back but ready to lean on others if he is unable to go.

"We’re going to need Holloway, Wrightsell and Amari to continue to play like they did tonight, just without the turnovers," Oats said. "Holloway and Wrightsell combined for seven turnovers— that’s too many in the backcourt. But outside of those turnovers, I thought they were pretty good… We need Holloway and Wrightsell to continue to play well even when Holloway does come back because he hasn’t been 100 percent. We’ll see how quickly we can get him healthier before Saturday and see what he looks like Saturday.”