Mark Sears was held scoreless for just the second time in his college career in Alabama’s 100-87 win over Illinois. Sears was heavily targeted by Illinois defense and rarely had a clean look at the rim, outside of a few missed 3-pointers.

Sears’ struggles aren’t representative of any sort of regression for the Tide’s top player. Rather Illinois' defensive scheme to take Sears out of the game is a snapshot of what is to come for one for one of college basketball's most outstanding guards. As Alabama continues its non-conference gauntlet, its best player is going to face the best opposing defenses have to offer.

Facing that kind of defensive attention and working with an elite and deep supporting cast is relatively new territory for Sears. He grew into one of the nation’s best guards last season, which means teams are now a lot more familiar with the caliber of player they’re facing this season.

That added defensive attention has created a new kind of learning curve for Alabama’s fifth-year guard. As Sears continues to be Alabama’s most important player, the Tide is looking for him to evolve into a dynamic option that can help Alabama win games even when defenses heavily limit his scoring capability.

“He’s not gonna average as many points this year as he did last year we knew that coming in,” Alabama coach Nate Oats told reporters Tuesday. “People are going to focus on him, we’ve got more talent around him, it just is what it is. He’s gotta do what it takes to help us win games. Some games that’s gonna be move the ball and get assists. Some games he’s gonna be out there and attract a lot of attention and make it easier on everybody else. And some games they’re gonna let Mark get his and make sure he doesn’t get his assists and don’t let all the other guys get going and he may need to score 30 for us to win.

“I think he’s just gotta get comfortable with a new role, comfortable with just doing whatever it takes to win and understand there’s gonna be games he’s just not gonna score that many.”

Sears won’t see any dropoff in the defensive quality he faces as Alabama begins play in the Player’s Era Festival Tournament. The Tide opens against Houston, a team that ranks No. 3 in adjusted defensive efficiency according to KenPom. Sears had 11 points in 22 minutes against Houston when the two teams last squared off in 2022.

Oats added that it’s not just on Sears to adapt when teams attempt to wall him out of games. Alabama won’t be able to succeed if its star guard isn’t able to be involved either as a scorer or creator. Sears’ involvement in both categories will be a good indicator of how well Alabama’s offense is operating as a whole.

“I think we gotta do a decent job screening for him to get him open, giving him space to get downhill, keep playing aggressive without being overly aggressive to where he’s trying to score on multiple opponents,” Oats said. “But he’s gotta stay aggressive and just make the right reads when they bring multiple defenders to him.”

As Sears looks to settle into his evolved role for Alabama, he'll also look to lead the Tide to three wins in the Players Era Festival. Alabama's matchup against Houston is set for 7 p.m. CT Tuesday night in Las Vegas, Nevada. The game will be broadcast on TBS.