Three Takeaways From Alabama Basketball’s Thrilling Win Over Mississippi State

Unlike most of Alabama’s wins, this one was close throughout as the Bulldogs never allowed the Crimson Tide to truly pull away. The Starkville crowd literally ran into Humphrey Coliseum dressed head-to-toe in black, matching with the Bulldogs’ uniform. Color theme nights typically create more noise and this was a prime example of that.

Chris Youngblood Has Arrived

Alabama guard Chris Youngblood suffered an ankle injury before the season, which sidelined him up until mid-December, when the South Florida transfer made his Crimson Tide debut against Creighton. Youngblood has gradually earned more time on the floor since then and it’s reflective of his recent success.

Fellow Alabama guard Labaron Philon tweaked his ankle before the LSU game this past Saturday and Youngblood earned his first start of the season in freshman’s place. Youngblood showed a lot of promise in a 13-point, five-rebound and two-block effort and it helped Alabama head coach Nate Oats in his decision to start the senior against Mississippi State.

Little did we know that Youngblood’s performance against LSU was just a warmup. Youngblood tallied 12 points on a stellar 4-for-5 clip from long-range heading into the halftime locker room against the Bulldogs. Both halves were very back-and-forth, but when the Bulldogs got hot, he was the ultimate silencer.

“Just stick to the script,” Youngblood said in the postgame press conference when asked what his message was in the huddle, as he was frequently the voice of it. “On the road, the crowd goes crazy at the free-throw line, they’re going to be loud regardless, but just don’t let them rattle you. Stick to the script and just focus on what we’ve got to do because when we get a bucket the crowd goes quiet.”

Up by one after three missed free throws by forwards Grant Nelson and Mouhamed Dioubate, center Clifford Omoruyi blocked Mississippi State on an attempt that all but certainly would’ve given Mississippi State the lead. Youngblood then went to the charity stripe and hit both shots. Youngblood finished a jaw-dropping 7-for-10 from behind the arc, leading to a 23-point outing. His numbers helped create a team-wide 48 percent from deep, which is the second-best percentage of the season and the 15-for-31 slate is also the Tide’s second-most.

“We need guys to kind of complement Mark [Sears],” Oats said. “Mark can make plays, get guys open, get guys to knock down shots. And hopefully, this is Chris’ coming out party here because he looked pretty good on both ends of the floor. He had pretty high defensive leverage, too. I would say he was second in defensive leverage behind Cliff [Omoruyi].”