No. 7 Alabama leans on Mark Sears to take down Creighton

Field Level Media|published: Sat 14th December, 23:22 2024

Dec 14, 2024; Tuscaloosa, AL, USA; Creighton forward Jamiya Neal (5) defends a three point shot by Alabama guard Chris Youngblood (8) at Coleman Coliseum. Mandatory Credit: Gary Cosby Jr.-Tuscaloosa News

Mark Sears recorded 27 points and six rebounds to help No. 7 Alabama notch an 83-75 victory over Creighton on Saturday night at Tuscaloosa, Ala.

Labaron Philon added 16 points and five rebounds and Derrion Reid scored 12 points for the Crimson Tide (8-2). Grant Nelson had 10 rebounds as Alabama held a 46-32 advantage on the boards.

Steven Ashworth registered 20 points and nine assists and Ryan Kalkbrenner added 18 points and seven rebounds for the Bluejays (7-4), who had a three-game winning streak snapped.

Jackson McAndrew set a career high with five 3-pointers and matched his top point total of 16 points for Creighton. Jamiya Neal added 13 points and eight rebounds.

Alabama shot 42.9 percent from the field but was a woeful 6-for-30 from 3-point range.

Creighton made 45 percent of its overall attempts and was 8-for-27 from behind the arc.

A three-point play by Sears gave the Crimson Tide a 49-37 lead with 16:19 left in the game.

Nearly five minutes later, Creighton was within six after consecutive baskets by Kalkbrenner and Ashworth.

Alabama pushed the lead to 12, 63-51, with 7:29 left after four straight points by Sears.

The Crimson Tide later led by 13 before McAndrew and Ashworth each made a 3-pointer to bring the Bluejays within 70-63 with 3:38 left.

Clifford Omoruyi made two free throws to push the Alabama lead back to nine, but Neal drained a 3-pointer to make it a six-point game with 2:54 left.

Sears buried a trey 23 seconds later to give the Crimson Tide a 75-66 lead.

McAndrew later converted a four-point play to get the Bluejays within 79-75 with 24.4 seconds remaining. But Sears made four straight free throws to seal the victory.

Philon scored eight first-half points to help Alabama hold a 37-31 lead. Kalkbrenner had 10 points in the first half for Creighton.

The Crimson Tide had runs of 9-0 and 11-0 over the first 11-plus minutes of the game to open up a 27-10 lead. Sears drained a 3-pointer for the 17-point lead.

Creighton later scored seven straight points to move within 33-25 on Jasen Green's tip-in with 2:28 left.

Alabama was later up by 10 before Kalkbrenner scored the final two baskets of the first half.

--Field Level Media