AUBURN, Ala. — An Iron Bowl of Basketball with low postseason stakes turned into an instant classic Saturday. An extra five minutes of basketball was needed in Alabama’s 93-91 win over No. 1 Auburn. But The Crimson Tide put in a heroic performance on the road and it was Mark Sears who put on the cape to win it for Alabama with a floater at the buzzer.

Sears finished with just nine points, which normally spells doom for Alabama given his importance. But he also led the team with seven assists and lifted his side when it needed him most. His teammates did plenty of heavy lifting on both ends, and an inspired Alabama set itself up for a postseason run in the biggest way, while snatching some bragging rights back from its archrival.

Here are three takeaways from Alabama's win over Auburn

Alabama was much better around the rim than it was in its loss to Florida. Both teams traded paint points all game, but it was Alabama that got the late buckets inside to seal the win.

Alabama’s presence in the lane was intense all game. It out-rebounded Auburn 20-16, including five O-boards that turned into 11 second-chance points in the first half. The Tide finished the first half with 22 of its 45 points in the paint and kept up that effort in the second half, winning the rebounding battle 41-33 and limiting Auburn to nine O-boards, while the Tide grabbed 10 of its own.

Auburn still got plenty of looks in the paint on its own offensive end. Star forward Johni Broome played like the National Player of the Year candidate he is, leading all scorers with 16 points in the first half and finishing with 34. Alabama let Clifford Omouryi, Aiden Sherrell and even Grant Nelson guard him one-on-one, but Broome was too much for each of them, constantly spinning back to his right shoulder. When Alabama sent help, he made a nice dish to a teammate in the paint. In overtime, Broome showed his range, burying two 3s to nearly send it to a second overtime

Unlike in the first edition of this game, Alabama had its own answers for Broome on offense. In the first half, it was Nelson who scored 15 points in the opening 20 minutes. Nelson played off the bounce, aggressively attacking his matchups and going to the rim with no fear. He played with much more confidence and his 23 were the most he scored in a game since Alabama’s road win over Kentucky in January.

Nelson had a quieter second half, but Alabama’s collective effort in the lane kept the Tide in the game. Omoruyi finished with 15, including an emphatic second-half dunk followed by plenty of trash talk to the Auburn students. Sherrell had to play big minutes with Omoruyi in foul trouble and rose to the occasion, finishing with eight points and seven rebounds in 16 minutes.

While both teams tried to get the edge in the paint, neither helped itself at the free-throw line. Alabama finished 66.7%, including two missed free throws by Chris Youngblood after Auburn’s Chad Baker-Mazara was ejected for elbowing him in the second half. Auburn wasn’t much better, hitting 64.7% of its free throws. But it was the Tide's 4 of 4 mark in overtime that helped make the difference in its narrow victory.

Alabama put in a strong defensive shift overall against the nation’s most efficient offense. The Tide limited Auburn to just eight attempts from deep in the first half. While the Tigers converted on four of those, the Alabama did a good job fighting through high ball screens and blowing up dribble handoffs to prevent open catch-and-shoot looks.

The Tigers' shooting volume from deep was higher, but Alabama contested looks even when it didn’t get through screens quickly enough. Auburn shot 6 of 18 from 3 in the final 20 minutes and overtime.

The Tide’s halfcourt defense was enough to keep the game in the balance, but it was the transition game where the game was nearly won for both teams. Auburn scored its fair share of points in transition and nearly made Alabama pay in the second half. After a 15-3 run for Alabama, Auburn came storming back by generating transition offense. The Tigers seemed to score every time they had a chance to get out and run. After two quick empty Alabama possessions, Auburn went on a quick 5-0 burst that forced Oats to call a timeout with Alabama clinging to a three-point lead. Auburn scored 20 points off of 15 Tide giveaways and finished with 10 fastbreak points.

But Alabama refused to be outdone in an area it likes to dominate to win games. Alabama scored 10 points off of Auburn’s nine turnovers. The most critical came when Labaron Philon stole the ball from Tahaad Pettiford in the overtime period. Alabama tallied 13 fastbreak points in total.

The Tide held Auburn to just one point per possession in the second half, turning up the pressure enough to offset Broome's scoring. held Auburn guard Denver Jones to just nine points after he scored 16 in the first matchup. Baker-Mazara's ejection negated him as an offensive factor, and Alabama continued to fight over screens and contest shots from beyond the arc to prevent Auburn from spreading Alabama out offensively.

Alabama didn’t dig itself a quick hole like it did in the first matchup. The Tide went down 9-0 in Coleman and never recovered, but came out with much better intensity Saturday than it had the first time out against Auburn and in its last game against Florida.

There weren’t too many incidents of chippiness in the first IBOB matchuo. But a game that had less postseason stakes and came down to pure bragging rights turned into a classic in the first half. Youngblood was called for a foul on Broome that was reviewed for a flagrant. Nelson did the crimson crane pose after a vicious dunk on Auburn’s Dylan Cardwell, returning the favor after Auburn struck the pose after its win in Coleman. That play was also reviewed.

Alabama’s attitude adjustment after the Florida loss translated into a strong first half on the court that Oats was looking for. Alabama had the same number of assists — eight — in the opening 20 minutes that it did in the entire first matchup against Auburn. Youngblood converted a layup off an inbound play coming out of a timeout with five minutes left. Auburn generated points, but Alabama set the tempo and was the better team on the glass, which lifted the Tide in the second half and overtime.

Alabama will head to Nashville, Tennessee, for the SEC Tournament. The Tide will play its first game Friday as the No. 3 seed following its massive victory in Auburn.