Mark Sears scored a season-best 24 points and No. 9 Alabama held Houston to two points in overtime while notching an 85-80 victory over the No. 6 Cougars on Tuesday night in the Players Era Festival at Las Vegas.
Aden Holloway scored 14 points, Grant Nelson added 13 points and 10 rebounds and Latrell Wrightsell Jr. tallied 12 points for the Crimson Tide (5-1). Mouhamed Dioubate had 10 points and three blocked shots along with a career-best 16 rebounds for Alabama.
LJ Cryer matched his career high of 30 points but made just 9 of 26 shots for Houston (3-2). Emanuel Sharp scored 14 points, J’Wan Roberts added 11 and Joseph Tugler contributed eight rebounds and a career-high eight blocked shots for the Cougars.
Houston made just 1 of 10 field-goal attempts in the overtime with Cryer missing all six of his shots.
Sears drained a 3-pointer for the first points of the extra session with 3:59 left. A basket by Mercy Miller 42 seconds later represented the Cougars’ only scoring in overtime.
Dioubate’s layup with 1:59 left made it a two-possession game, and the Crimson Tide held on.
Alabama and Houston are part of the four-team Impact Group along with Rutgers and Notre Dame. The Crimson Tide will face the Scarlet Knights on Wednesday, and the Cougars will face the Fighting Irish.
Alabama shot 36.7 percent from the field, including 11 of 30 from 3-point range. The Crimson Tide held a 48-39 rebounding edge.
Houston shot 36.9 percent and was 6 of 19 from behind the arc.
Sears drilled a 3-pointer to pull the Crimson Tide within 77-76 with 53.5 seconds remaining in the regulation.
Roberts split two free throws for the Cougars with 39.4 seconds to go before Wrightsell made two free throws to tie it at 78 with 27.8 seconds left.
Earlier, Sears drained a 3-pointer to give Alabama a 62-54 lead with 8:53 left in regulation before Houston responded with a 15-3 spurt.
The Cougars capped that run with 10 in a row, including five from Cryer, to take a 69-65 advantage with 4:28 remaining.
Cryer scored 11 first-half points as Houston led 36-34 at the break. Sears had eight points in the half for Alabama.
–Field Level Media
