He grabbed two offensive rebounds off free throw attempts and scored eight straight points while GCU slumped into a two-plus minute scoreless stretch. Dioubate fought inside for hard lay-ups and locked down Tyon Grant-Foster as the Tide looked to close it out.
Alabama nearly ran away with the game midway through the second half. It led by nine points and forced a GCU timeout. Five minutes and multiple turnovers later, Grand Canyon tied it and soon led with a couple of free throws. Then Mouhamed Dioubate checked in.
Mark Sears was Alabama’s answer Sunday when the Tide needed a bucket or had to stop a run. Sears’ presence was elevated with Latrell Wrightsell Jr. reinjuring his head after a fall. Wrightsell missed a majority of the game after falling in the first half.
Sears produced 26 points and 12 rebounds, his first double-double of the year. He’s up to 732 points for the season — the school single-season record is Reggie King’s 747 set in 1979. Sears also broke King’s record with a 24th game scoring at least 20 points.
It was a rock fight and teams with run-and-gun styles traded ugly turnovers and fouls. Alabama’s bench was called for two technical in the first half, the initial came after Nate Oats angered an official and argued for a call near halfcourt. The second was after Nick Pringle slammed a clipboard following what he thought was a missed call from the official.
GCU attempted 37 free throws to Alabama’s 22. During one stretch, the Lopes went multiple minutes without a clean field goal attempt, let alone a make, and only stayed in the game after getting to the line. Four Alabama players had three fouls heading into the final eight minutes. A drive by Grant-Foster resulted in an and-1 which tied the game at 55 apiece.
