STARKVILLE, Miss. — When speaking to Crimson Tide Sports Network before the game Nate Oats thought Alabama’s 88-84 win over Mississippi State was going to be a rock fight laden with fouls.

Instead, it was an offensive masterclass by both sides, leading to a thrilling finish inside Humphrey Coliseum. Alabama and Mississippi State traded haymakers and unleashed their offensive playstyles on helpless defenses. Alabama guard Chris Youngblood’s second straight start helped lift the Tide, while its entire roster made winning plays down the stretch to seal Alabama's third road win over a top-15 team in SEC play.

Here are three takeaways from No. 4 Alabama basketball vs. No. 14 Mississippi State.

Oats broke down Mississippi State’s scoring prowess Tuesday. The Bulldogs ranked No. 14 in adjusted offensive efficiency coming into the game and looked the part. Leading scorer Josh Hubbard turned early matchups against Jarin Stevenson and Mark Sears into mismatches, drilling his first two 3-pointers of the game.

Both teams matched each other’s pace all game, creating the most aesthetically pleasing form of a deadlocked matchup. Mississippi State averaged 1.2 points per possession in the first 12 minutes while Alabama was at a 1.3. Mississippi State went on a 9-1 run that the Tide answered going into halftime with six straight points.

Mississippi State did much of its damage in the paint and through Hubbard, who seemed to create mismatches no matter who Alabama through on him. The slippery guard knifed his way through the Tide’s defense to create shots for himself and others. He drilled 3 after 3 to propel the Bulldogs offense and finished with 38 points.

The Bulldogs finished the game with 40 points in the paint, constantly putting pressure on the rim. Six paint points and two Hubbard 3s opened up a 12-6 run for the Bulldogs, which cut Alabama’s lead to three at the under 12-timeout. Mississippi State took the lead after a Hubbard and-1, which gave him 28 points with 10 minutes left.

Neither team dipped below one point per possession for the entire game and both were above a 1.2 for almost the entire second half. The elite offense generated a thriller inside Humphrey Coliseum. An Alabama make was answered by a Hubbard layup. In response to three straight offensive rebounds by the Bulldogs, Youngblood drilled a 3 on the other end.

"That was quite the game," Oats began his opening statement after the win," Oats said. If you like big shotmaking that was a good game to be at and watch."

Alabama can keep itself in plenty of games with its shooting, doing so Wednesday by making 48% of its 3s. But even that was almost not enough against a talented Mississippi State squad. As Mississippi State continued to find answers on offense, Alabama dug deep, just like it has in every SEC road game this season.

The Tide was far from perfect but took much more pride in its play on the glass Wednesday. Alabama turned 16 offensive rebounds into 18 critical points. Alabama gave up 12 O-boards on the other end, too many for Oats' liking, but won the rebounding battle overall 41-35.

In another outstanding response to an early second-half benching against LSU, Clifford Omoruyi led the Tide with five rebounds in the second half. He also chased down a loose ball after a Bulldogs miss late that led to a Sears make. Omoruyi later contested an attempt on a fastbreak that would have given Mississippi State the lead in the final seconds. He finished with six points, seven boards, one block and a steal.

Mouhamed Diobuate did the same in crunch time. It was a woeful showing from Alabama at the free throw line, but the sophomore grabbed a Grant Nelson miss to tick off a few more precious seconds form the clock. Dioubate ended up leading the Tide with nine boards and was plus-nine for the game. He also won the Hard Hat Award for the most blue-collar points.

"He's a winner," Oats said. "He ended up being second on the team in plus-minus. But he led us in blue-collar. He had timely offensive rebounds. That one at the free throw line was huge but he had other ones other than that. I think the one Cliff missed the dunk attempt long, he went in and picked that thing up. He's just a winner. He finds his way on the floor and he makes us play him. He was kind of dealing with a little bit of an ankle injury tonight and he still was able to be in the game for us."

For a second straight game, Oats deviated from the starting five that played the first six SEC games. Labaron Philon once again came off the bench while Youngblood got his second straight start.

Youngblood once again validated Oats’ decision. He led Alabama with 12 points heading into halftime and was automatic from beyond the arc, frequently being the answer to Bulldogs' runs and showing off the defensive versatility that makes him an even more valuable asset off the bench for Alabama.

Oats told reporters Tuesday that he hadn’t yet decided who would start, and clearly, Youngblood’s impact has made an impression. In Oats’ eyes, Alabama has seven to eight capable starters and that depth was needed in its entirety Wednesday night. His trust in Youngblood to run with the starters continued to be rewarded as Mississippi State went stride for stride with the Tide’s offense.

Youngblood had a quieter second half on the stat sheet, but his contributions made plenty of noise as he continued to make big shots when Alabama needed them. His two made 3s in the second half tied the game at 70 and gave Alabama a 75-74 advantage. Youngblood finished the game with 23 points on 7 of 10 shooting from beyond the arc. He put the cherry on top of his vest game in an Alabama uniform with the final two free throws to seal the win.

"Hopefully, this is Chris’ coming out party here because he looked pretty good on both ends of the floor," Oats said after the game. "I’m looking right now, he had pretty high defensive leverage too. He was second in defensive leverage behind Cliff. Cliff had it best and then Youngblood had it best. We were 42 points better with Chris in the game. So I think both sides of the ball he’s starting to kind of exert his will, his demenor, his competitiveness and it’s good to see."

Alabama (18-3, 7-1 SEC) returns home for a matchup against Georgia. The Bulldogs (15-6, 3-5) defeated South Carolina 71-60 in its last SEC matchup Tuesday. Tipoff between Alabama and Georgia is set for 3 p.m. CT on Saturday inside Coleman Coliseum. The game will be broadcast on ESPN 2.