No. 7 Alabama stuns No. 1 Auburn at the buzzer
BY ALEJANDRO LOPEZ
On one of the busiest days in college basketball, a face-off between SEC titans proved to live up to expectations, capped off with a stunning game-winner by Mark Sears.
No. 7 Alabama defeated No. 1 Auburn, 93-91 in overtime, in a style fitting of March basketball with a walk-off floater from Sears.
The Tigers (27-4, 15-3 SEC) became the third AP No. 1 to lose their final two regular-season games of the year.
“Before that in my mind I was saying it was fitting to be a game winner…I had a quiet game, shout out to Grant Nelson and Labaron Philon. Those guys really stepped up, I was just able to come through and deliver,” Sears said ESPN.
Nelson scored 23 and Philon 15 for the Tide, while Rutgers transfer Cliff Omoruyi added 15 points and 8 rebounds.
National Player of the Year Candidate Johni Broome poured in 34 points with 8 rebounds, 3 assists and 5 blocks for Auburn, while Tahaad Pettiford scored 19 with 6 assists and 4 boards.
“We’ve been through a lot of tough games over this seven-game stretch and I feel like this seven-game stretch really prepared us for this moment and we were able to deliver and come out with the win,” Sears said. “It feels amazing. Our Senior Night was ruined because we lost to Florida and our message was let’s go in there and try to get a win on their Senior Night and we were able to do that.”
In high spirits, Sears and the Crimson Tide will head into the Bridgestone Arena for the SEC tournament.
Auburn remains the No. 1 overall seed, per ESPN’s Joe Lunardi, while Alabama projects as a 2 seed.
Updated Bracket s per @ESPNLunardi pic.twitter.com/GHLAMOLef7
— Adam Zagoria (@AdamZagoria) March 8, 2025
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