Alabama has made it clear to opponents that no lead is safe. On Wednesday, the Crimson Tide once again overcame a second-half deficit to notch an SEC win.

No. 14 Alabama trailed by as many as 14 points in the first half against Ole Miss. The Rebels led 42-39 at the half before UA exploded for 64 points in the second half, securing a 103-88 road win.

“I think our guys need to know, like, offensively we’re pretty high-powered,” Oats said after the game. “We put up a 1.43 tonight. That was with our awful start. So at any point, we can go on a 10-0 run in a short amount of time.

“We just need to sit down, get stops, and we can make some runs. So I think we’ve done it. We weren’t down late. We were doing a lot bigger late against Georgia, but we were down 10 with about nine minutes to go against Florida not that long ago. So we’ve been down.”

Alabama had 4-of-5 starters in double figures, led by Mark Sears with 26 points on 8-of-14 shooting from the field, including 3-of-8 from beyond the arc. Sears played all 40 minutes, as Grant Nelson (10 points) and Rylan Griffen (14 points) were limited to 25 and 24 minutes as they dealt with foul trouble. Aaron Estrada posted a triple-double of 18 points, 10 rebounds and 10 assists, playing 38 minutes.

There are no easy outs in the SEC, especially on the road, but the big challenge for the Crimson Tide is up next as No. 4 Tennessee comes to Tuscaloosa (8 p.m. ET, ESPN).

Another shot at Tennessee, Dalton Knecht

Last weekend, ESPN selected Alabama as its College GameDay host site ahead of the highly anticipated SEC showdown. The Tide and Vols had their hands full Wednesday night. As the top two teams in the SEC basketball standings, Saturday’s showdown was guaranteed to be a big game, but having UA and/or UT lose Wednesday would have put a bit of a damper on things.

The folks in Bristol were on the edge of their seats much of Wednesday night, but both teams came through. Tennessee first overcame a second-half deficit to Auburn, and then Alabama completed its comeback in Oxford.

Saturday’s winner will take first place in the SEC standings at 13-3. With another week to go, it’s not officially for the regular-season conference title or the No. 1-seed in the SEC Basketball Tournament, but it is very much a decisive game.

On top of the chance to take sole possession of first place in the SEC, Alabama also has a chance to get revenge against Tennessee. The Tide visited Rocky Top on Jan. 20, falling 91-71 to the Vols. Dalton Knecht led UT in the January win, and figures to be a factor in Saturday’s primetime showdown.

Knecht had 25 points in his first game against Alabama. He heads to Tuscaloosa coming off a 39-point in Wednesday’s thrilling win over Auburn.

As Alabama is aware, Knecht has a tendency to score in bunches. He scored 17 of his 25 in the first half against Bama. Wednesday was a full Knecht takeover, as he scored 27 points in the second half against Auburn. Over the final 12:01, Knecht scored 25 points, while AU as a team managed just 21 points.

Knecht has people talking about National Player of the Year, an honor once thought to be a foregone conclusion when Purdue’s Zach Edey elected to return for 2023-24.

Saturday’s showdown in Tuscaloosa could potentially decide SEC Player of the Year. Auburn coach Bruce Pearl said on Wednesday that he expects to go with either Knecht or Sears with his vote.

“What I’ve always done and what I’ve always believed in is voting for the best player on the best team,” Pearl said. “So if Dalton Knecht wins the league and Tennessee wins the league, he’ll get my vote, for sure. If Alabama won the league, I’m going to vote for Mark Sears. I typically have always believed it’s the best player on the best team.”

It’s not for the official title, but the way Alabama and Tennessee are playing, we’ll likely learn the 2024 SEC champion – and Pearl’s MVP vote – on Saturday night.

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