Following a 109-92 victory over LSU on the road on Saturday, Alabama Basketball took back the top spot in the
SEC standings. Due to ugly defeats by Tennessee and Auburn, the Tigers and Vols both suffered three conference
losses, allowing the Crimson Tide to maintain a lead in the standings of at least a full game over their rivals.
Considering that Auburn and Tennessee were the teams that caused Bama’s two conference losses, this is a crucial
development. With a 9-2 SEC record, only South Carolina maintains its tie with the Tide for first place.
Alabama, one of the top scoring teams in the nation, reached the century mark on Saturday for the seventh time.
Over 90 points have also been scored by the Tide in 11 of their 24 games.
Is Mark Sears, the guard for Alabama, the best player in the SEC?
In the victory, guard Mark Sears put up 23 points, eight rebounds, and five assists, solidifying his place among the
SEC’s best players.
The 6’1″ senior from Muscle Shoals leads the conference in scoring per game at 20.5, and he has been quite
effective at it. For a tiny guard, he is shooting over 51 percent from the field—a nearly unheard-of percentage.
Sears is a proficient three-point shooter who makes 5.25 tries a game, connecting on over 44% of his shots from
the field. With 4th-best % in the league in made triples but outside the top-10 in attempts, Sears has the fifth-
highest percentage in the SEC. He is also a strong driver who excels at finishing in tight spaces and reaches the
free throw line more than six times a game, converting at an 85% rate.
scorer. In the backcourt, he contributes 3.9 assists, 1.7 steals, and 4.3 rebounds a game, making him a complete
player. Sears is seventh in the league in steals and tied for fifth in the SEC in total assists. He had the most
rebounds in the SEC among players under 6’4″ and is an underappreciated rebounder for his size, ranking 22nd in
the conference in boards per game.
Mark Sears’ strongest competition for SEC Player of the Year is probably Texas A&M guard Wade Taylor IV (19.9
PPG, 3.7 RPG, 3.8 APG) and Tennessee wing Dalton Knecht (20.3 PPG, 4.8 RPG), both of whom have had an
excellent season.
As things stand right now, I think Bama has the little advantage due to his position atop the SEC rankings and
Sears’ performance. Alabama will host Tennessee and Texas A&M in Coleman Coliseum before to the end of the
regular season. The winner may be determined by these head-to-head comparisons, taking into account both
individual performances and game results. There’s no doubt that Mark Sears, a real contender, will show up to
play.
four years, following in the footsteps of Herb Jones (2020–21) and Brandon Miller (2022–23). This says a lot
about the remarkable program Oats has established in Tuscaloosa in a short period of time, as well as about Sears
as a player in his own right.
