No. 4 Alabama survives thriller at No. 14 Mississippi State

Chris Youngblood had a season high 23 points, including two free throw with 10.9 seconds left, 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 out of 31 beyond the arch.

Mark Sears had 17 points for Alabama (18-3, 7-1 sec), and Grant Nelson scored 15.

Josh Hubbard had a career hill 38 points for Mississippi State (16-5, 4-4) and made a season high six 3-pointer. Keshawn Murphy scored 18 points for Bulldogs.

Mississippi State had an opportunity to take the lead in the final seconds, but Murphy missed a running set up with 13 seconds left. Alabama missed three straight free kicks with 24 seconds left to give Mississippi State an opportunity.

Mississippi State jumped out to an 11-5 lead on a couple of 3-Pointers of Hubbard in the opening minutes. However, Alabama began to find its range beyond the arch, and the tide used an 8-0 race to grab a 35-27 lead with 5:33 back in half.

Alabama led 44-39 at the break.

Takeaways

Alabama: Crimson Tide improved to 4-0 in the SEC Road Games this season.

Mississippi State: Coach Chris Jans is 0-6 against Alabama since the acquisition of Bulldogs’ program three years ago.

Up next

Alabama hosts Georgia on Saturday. Mississippi State hosts Missouri on Saturday.