TUSCALOOSA, Ala. — Alabama had a slight scare Tuesday night after its star point guard and reigning SEC Co-Player of the Week Mark Sears went down with an ankle injury late in the first half against the Missouri Tigers.

After fighting to keep a possession alive, Sears came down from a rebound attempt and landed wrong on his ankle with 4:09 remaining in the half. From there, Sears walked into the locker room and emerged with his leg wrapped for the final seconds of the first period.

However, despite its leading scorer not playing 100%, the rest of the Crimson Tide stepped up and defeated the Tigers 93-75 on a quick return trip back home.

“I think it shows people we got a lot of depth,” head coach Nate Oats said. “I mean we’ve got one of the deepest backcourts in the country.”

The Muscle Shoals native struggled to get it going offensively before the injury as he had just two points off of 1-for-5 shooting, along with two turnovers. However, that wouldn’t be the end of his night.

Coming out for shootaround during halftime, Sears appeared ready to go for the final 20 minutes, and got the green light to return. It didn’t take long for the senior guard to get on the board after he made a quick layup for the first points of the half.

However, despite returning to the floor and hitting a big three-pointer to spark a run, it wasn’t the same Sears that we’re used to. The scoring struggles continued as he finished the second half scoring just seven points off of 2-for-5 shooting.

“Hopefully Mark can get his ankle right because he’s the leading scorer in the league and we’d love to have him at Tennessee,” Oats said. “We need everything we can get up there, it’s not an easy place to play.”

Seemingly not playing to his full potential, the veteran guard only played 12 minutes in the second half. For the final eight minutes of the game, senior guard Latrell Wrightsell Jr. took over and ran point guard as Sears sat the bench.

During his reign as the floor general, Wrightsell Jr. put up eight points including two three-pointers, along with a rebound and an assist as well.

“We got [Latrell Wrightsell Jr] coming off the bench, can start just about anywhere and plays his role great and dives into his role,” Oats said. “You’re able to put them out there for any of those three starting guards and not really lose much.”

Picking up another conference victory to remain unbeaten, Alabama will have one of its toughest tasks of the year up next as the Crimson Tide travel to Knoxville, Tennessee to face off against the No. 6 Tennessee Volunteers on Saturday at 1:00 p.m. CT.