TUSCALOOSA, Ala. — Nate Oats got the response he was looking for from Mark Sears. After benching the star guard for the entire second half of the Crimson Tide’s 80-73 win over LSU on Saturday, Sears responded with two outstanding practices in the buildup to Alabama’s matchup against No. 14 Mississippi State.

“We have them vote a practice MVP,” Oats told reporters Tuesday. “Cliff [Omoruyi] and Mark, between the two of them, had every vote for practice MVP yesterday. So, not only did I think [Sears] had a great practice, but all his teammates thought he had a great practice and I thought he repeated it with another great practice today.”

Oats has his players evaluate each other after every practice. It’s a tactic he picked after he visited a Dallas Mavericks training camp a few years ago. The effort from Omoruyi — who was also benched to start the second half after a poor showing in the first — and Sears passed with flying colors in the eyes of their teammates and their effort spread to the rest of the team.

“I thought the last two practices were the best two practices that we’ve had back-to-back going into a game all year,” Oats said. “We’ve been on these guys about practice habits, leadership, accountability. I think they’re starting to get it. I said we’ve had a great group of guys all year, but we also need to practice hard.”

Now it's up to Alabama to replicate its practice form against another top-15 side on the road Wednesday night. The Tide has already claimed two wins over ranked foes away from home in conference play, and its practice habits suggest it's primed to secure a third after surviving a shaky performance against the Tigers.

But Oats knows it will take a lot to secure victory inside Humphrey Coliseum. The Tide has a good track record against the Bulldogs, but Chris Jans’ team boasts more offensive firepower in his third year at the helm. Mississippi State will also out-scrap Alabama if it does not take pride in the blue-collar department Wednesday night.

“I like where our heads are at,” Oats said. “I love where our energy was in practice today. I love this team. I think we’ve got really good guys. But, shoot, I like Mississippi State’s team. They’re tough and their coach does a good job, and we’ve got our hands full on Wednesday night.”

Here’s what you need to know for Wednesday’s game.

Who: No. 4 Alabama (17-3, 6-1 SEC) vs. Mississippi State (16-4, 4-3)

When: 8 p.m. CT, Wednesday, Jan. 29

Where: Humphrey Coliseum, Starkville, Mississippi

Watch: SEC Network (Play-By-Play: John Schriffen, Analyst: Richard Hendrix)

Listen: Crimson Tide Sports Network | SIRIUS/XM 134/201 (Play-By-Play: Chris Stewart, Analyst: Lawson Schaffer)

Mark Sears: 6-foot-1, 190 pounds, graduate

Stats: 18.1 ppg, 2.9 rpg, 4.9 apg, 39.6% FG, 34.8% 3-pt

Labaron Philon: 6-foot-4, 177 pounds, freshman

Stats: 11.3 ppg, 3.7 rpg, 3.7 apg, 45.6% FG, 27.9% 3-pt

Jarin Stevenson: 6-foot-11, 215 pounds, sophomore

Stats: 5.0 ppg, 3.7 rpg, 0.9 apg, 37.2% FG, 22.8% 3-pt

Grant Nelson: 6-foot-11, 230 pounds, graduate

Stats: 12.6 ppg, 8.4 rpg, 1.7 apg, 54.2% FG, 26.8% 3-pt

Clifford Omoruyi: 6-foot-11, 250 pounds, graduate

Stats: 7.3 ppg, 6.2 rpg, 0.8 apg, 76.3% FG

Josh Hubbard: 5-foot-11, 190 pounds, sophomore

Stats: 16.3 ppg, 2.3 rpg, 3.0 apg, 38.1% FG, 34.9% 3-pt

Claudell Harris Jr.: 6-foot-4, 200 pounds, senior

Stats: 10.7 ppg, 3.1 rpg, 1.4 apg, 40.6% FG, 35.4% 3-pt

RJ Melendez: 6-foot-7, 210 pounds, senior

Stats: 9.3 ppg, 4.4 rpg, 46.7% FG, 29.7% 3-pt

Cameron Matthews: 6-foot-7, 235 pounds, graduate

Stats: 7.8 ppg, 7.0 rpg, 55.0% FG, 25.0% 3-pt

Michael Nwoko: 6-foot-10, 245 pounds, sophomore

Stats: 6.7 ppg, 4.9 rpg, 55.2% FG, 20.0% 3-pt

Alabama is on a six-game winning streak against Mississippi State. Oats has been victorious over Jans in five of those six meetings, including one in the quarterfinals of the SEC Tournament. But that strong record doesn’t mean Oats is overlooking the Bulldogs, especially this season.

Mississippi State has its strongest offensive team under Jans with four double-digit scorers and the No. 18 offense according to KenPom.com. The Bulldogs had the No. 73 offense last season and ranked No. 176 in Jans’ first year at the helm.

The Bulldogs' improved offense is spearheaded by elite guard Josh Hubbard. The sophomore is ranked No. 10 in the SEC in scoring (16.3 ppg), while his assist numbers are up from 1.7 last season to three per game in 2024-25.

“Hubbard’s good. He’s a quick, explosive guard,” Oats said. "You lose him for half a second, all of a sudden he’s got a 3 off and he’s got a knack for getting fouled while shooting 3s. We gotta be able to guard him from the 3-point line without fouling him.”

Oats also mentioned Hubbard’s help this season. He called senior guard Claudell Harris Jr. an elite shooter. Harris is second on the team in 3-point percentage at 35.4% behind another player Oats mentioned Tuesday, junior guard Riley Kugel. The Florida transfer comes off the bench for Mississippi State but is putting up the best scoring numbers of his career, averaging 10.6 points on 46.5% from the field and 35.7% from 3.

“Kugel comes off the bench for them,” Oats said. “That guy, a year or two ago he was lottery on some draft boards, was projected to go first round, borderline lottery pick. So he’s super talented.”

In addition to Mississippi State’s scorers, Oats also had high praise for Bulldogs forward Cameron Matthews. The senior will be a familiar name to Alabama fans, as he’s one of the SEC’s premier veterans and a workhorse in the paint and on defense. Matthews is averaging a career-high seven rebounds per game this season and ranks No. 9 in the country in steal percentage. His 2.6 steals per game rank first in the SEC, which makes Oats' comparison of Matthews to one of Alabama’s weapons a fitting one.

“Cam Matthews is one of my favorite players in the SEC over the last few years,” Oats said. “He plays hard. He’s got a lot of Mo Dioubate. The two of them are similar. I think they’re both ultimate glue guys, all about the right stuff. He plays hard, rebounds it well. They’ve got him handling pick-and-rolls more this year. He just does a little bit of everything and he’s a winner.

“We gave up 15 rebounds in the first half last game to an individual. Cam Matthews has more potential to do that than maybe anybody in this league. So, our defense, our rebounding efforts on him are gonna have to be significantly better than they were last game against LSU.”

Fortunately for Alabama, it has its own depth and firepower offensively and all of the Tide’s available players will have to be at their best if the Tide wants to walk out of Humphrey unscathed.

Oats said Tuesday that he hasn’t yet decided who will start against the Bulldogs. Alabama made its first change to the starting lineup since the start of conference play when Philon came off the bench and Chris Youngblood started. In the second half, Sears and Omouryi were both benched for Aden Holloway and Diobuate.

Another lineup change could be in store Wednesday, which is a credit to the play of all three players who got a chance to be featured in the lineups that started each half against the Tigers.

Holloway and Diobuate have been arguably Alabama’s best performers in the last two games. Oats said Holloway has indicated he enjoys coming off the bench and doesn’t mind that role. It’s paid dividends for both Alabama and Holloway, who has upped his scoring significantly since arriving from Auburn.

“First transfer under us since we’ve been here that’s averaged at least 14 points and shoot 50% from the field and from 3 in their first seven SEC games,” Oats said. “So he’s doing stuff — and we’ve had really good transfers come in here — that nobody’s done here before.”

Dioubate’s stats in extended minutes are even more impressive. In the three games he’s played over 20 minutes — most recently against Vanderbilt — Dioubate averaged 14 points and 12 rebounds shooting 71.4% from the field and 80% from the free throw line and is plus-20.

“When he’s locked in to what we need him to do and when he’s doing stuff that he’s great at he’s one of the best players on the floor, and he’s gonna play,” Oats said. “So it’s great to have those two guys coming off the bench.”

Youngblood only connected on 1 of 5 3-pointers against LSU but quickly dragged Alabama back into the game early, scoring or assisting on the Tide’s first nine points which tied the score. Youngblood has also proved himself to be a valuable defender in recent games. Oats assessed he did the best job on Texas A&M guard Zhuric Phelps and said Youngblood’s leadership and communication make him a net positive when he’s on the court.

“He’s a guy we can move around on different guys and I feel like his competitiveness, his strength, his toughness and his experience give him a chance,” Oats said. “And he talks a lot… that’s a big thing that goes understated a lot of times is, if you look at leverage numbers — and the bottom line, I tell these guys all the time, ‘Are we better with you on the floor than not? When you talk all the time and you’re locked in the scouting report and you know what’s coming and you can talk your teammates through it, we’re better with you on the floor.’ So, is your defensive leverage positive or negative? And if it’s positive we’re better with you on the floor and Chris’ defensive leverage numbers have been positive.”

Three of Alabama’s key role players are in good form at an important time ahead of another ranked matchup. Oats is looking for continued consistency up and down the roster and made it clear he’s going to play whoever is providing that consistent effort the most. Whether or not Oats chooses to insert one of his star role players in the starting lineup, all three will have to continue being positive influences for the Tide to come away with a win.

Alabama has six wins over AP Top 25 opponents, one win away from tying the program record for most AP wins in a single season set during the 2022-23 campaign

Alabama's three wins over AP Top-10 teams this year is the most in a season since the 1982-83 season

Coach Oats has 24 AP Top-25 wins during his tenure at UA, which ranks second all-time in the program's history behind Wimp Sanderson (25 wins)

Since the start of last season Alabama has scored 100 points or more in 16 games, which ranks No. 1 throughout Division I

Since Oats arrived in Tuscaloosa in 2019-20, Alabama has won a league-best 68 games during SEC play

Aden Holloway is shooting 63.8 percent from the field during conference games, which ranks second in the SEC

Mark Sears became the 82nd player in Division I history with 2,500 career points on Jan. 21 vs. Vanderbilt and is the current active leader with 2,512 points in Division I

Alabama has scored 100 points or more in six games this season, the most in Division I this year and second most over the last 75 years

Since 2004, Sears is the 24th player in Division I history to have 62 career games scoring 20 points or more and currently the only active player in Division I

Sears is the only player in the SEC to rank in the top five in both scoring (No. 2, 18.1 ppg) and assists (No. 3, 4.9 apg)

During conference play Sears ranks first in assists (6.4 apg) and fifth in points (18.1 ppg) in the SEC

Since the 2020-2021 season, Alabama has made 15 three-pointers in 22 contests, which ranks No. 1 in Division I

Alabama has scored 100 points or more in 95 games in program history, with Coach Oats' teams accounting for 28 percent of that number (27 games)

Alabama has scored 85 points or more in five straight road games, which ties the longest single-season streak by any team in SEC history