Chris Youngblood had a season-high 23 points, including two free throws with 10.9 seconds remaining, to lead No. 4 Alabama to an 88-84 win over No. 14 Mississippi State on Wednesday night.
Youngblood made a career-best seven 3 pointers while Alabama made 15 of 31 from beyond the arc.
Mark Sears had 17 points for Alabama (18-3, 7-1 Southeastern Conference) and Grant Nelson scored 15.
Josh Hubbard had a career-high 38 points for Mississippi State (16-5, 4-4) and made a season-high six 3 pointers. KeShawn Murphy scored 18 points for the Bulldogs.
Mississippi State had an opportunity to take the lead in the closing seconds but Murphy missed a running layup with 13 seconds remaining. Alabama missed three straight free throws with 24 seconds remaining to give Mississippi State an opportunity.
Mississippi State jumped out to an 11-5 lead on a pair of 3-pointers by Hubbard in the opening minutes. However, Alabama started to find its range beyond the arc and the Tide used an 8-0 run to grab a 35-27 lead with 5:33 left in the half.
Alabama led 44-39 at halftime.
Takeaways
Alabama: The Crimson Tide improved to 4-0 in SEC road games this season.
Mississippi State: Coach Chris Jans is 0-6 against Alabama since taking over the Bulldogs’ program three years ago.
Up next
Alabama hosts Georgia on Saturday. Mississippi State hosts Missouri on Saturday.
