Mark Sears pops up on Alabama injury report ahead of Tennessee game
Mark Sears popped up on the Friday night availability report published by the SEC ahead of the weekend action.
Alabama travels to Knoxville on Saturday to face No. 5 Tennessee. On Friday night, the Crimson Tide listed their star point guard as probable on the team’s official injury report. Freshman forward Derrion Reid also remains out.
There were no other surprises for either side on the availability report.
Sears has started every game this season for Alabama. On the fastest team in college basketball, the senior guard sets the table. He leads the Crimson Tide with 19 points per game and averages 5 assists.
He has scored at least 20 points in 3 straight games. Sears scored a season-high 35 points against Mizzou on Feb. 19, then followed that up with a 30-point game against Kentucky last Saturday. On Tuesday against Mississippi State, Sears scored 21 points and dished 10 assists in 29 minutes as the Crimson Tide won 111-73.
Tipoff between the Crimson Tide (23-5, 12-3 SEC) and the Volunteers (23-5, 10-5) is set for 4 p.m. ET on ESPN. The Vols are a 3.5-point favorite, per BetMGM.
Mississippi State Bracketology: Where Lunardi has Bulldogs after lopsided loss at Alabama
We’re down to our final week of the 2024-2025 college basketball regular season, and the Mississippi State Bulldogs are making their final push towards March Madness. They’ve already done enough to lock themselves into the NCAA Tournament, but now the goal is to get themselves the best seed possible.
Earlier this week, the Bulldogs had a chance to greatly improve their resume playing at Alabama. Instead, the Crimson Tide wiped the floor with Mississippi State, 111-73. Even playing on the road against an elite team, losing by that margin can be a major knock on your metrics, so it was going to be interesting to see where State would land in the eyes of bracketologists.
Last week, ESPN’s Joe Lunardi had Mississippi State firmly on the 6/7 line in his bracket. Where does he seed the Bulldogs after Alabama ran them out of the gym?
Mississippi State Bulldogs a 7-seed in Joe Lunardi’s latest bracketology
While losing by 38 in Tuscaloosa wasn’t at all good for Mississippi State’s metrics, their overall profile wasn’t damaged enough to see a significant drop, staying in the same range. Going into the weekend, Joe Lunardi projects the Bulldogs as the 7-seed in the South Region.
Once again, Lunardi has Mississippi State taking on 10-seed San Diego State, though this time he has them heading up north to play in Milwaukee. As stated in our last bracketology update, San Diego State is not a mid-major you want to see come tournament time.
The Aztecs have been a high-level program in the Mountain West (and nationally) for several years now under head coach Brian Dutcher. They know all about making deep runs in March, having gotten all the way to the national championship game in 2023. And this season, they’ve shown the ability to take down the elites with a win over Houston.
Also projected in State’s opening weekend site were 2-seed Iowa State and 15-seed Montana. Between the Aztecs and, likely, Cyclones, MSU’s path to the second weekend would not be easy at all. That’s why it’s critical that they finish the regular season strong to put themselves in a better position on Selection Sunday.
