STARKVILLE, Miss. -- — Chris Youngblood had a season-high 23 points, including two free throws with 10.9 seconds remaining, to lead No. 4 Alabama to an 88-84 win over No. 14 Mississippi State on Wednesday night.

Youngblood made a career-best seven 3 pointers while Alabama made 15 of 31 from beyond the arc.

Mark Sears had 17 points for Alabama (18-3, 7-1 Southeastern Conference) and Grant Nelson scored 15.

Josh Hubbard had a career-high 38 points for Mississippi State (16-5, 4-4) and made a season-high six 3 pointers. KeShawn Murphy scored 18 points for the Bulldogs.

Mississippi State had an opportunity to take the lead in the closing seconds but Murphy missed a running layup with 13 seconds remaining. Alabama missed three straight free throws with 24 seconds remaining to give Mississippi State an opportunity.

Mississippi State jumped out to an 11-5 lead on a pair of 3-pointers by Hubbard in the opening minutes. However, Alabama started to find its range beyond the arc and the Tide used an 8-0 run to grab a 35-27 lead with 5:33 left in the half.

Alabama led 44-39 at halftime.

Takeaways

Alabama: The Crimson Tide improved to 4-0 in SEC road games this season.

Mississippi State: Coach Chris Jans is 0-6 against Alabama since taking over the Bulldogs’ program three years ago.

Up next

Alabama hosts Georgia on Saturday. Mississippi State hosts Missouri on Saturday.

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