Mark Sears: Mo Dioubate won Alabama the game in Round of 32
It took a team effort for Alabama to advance to the Sweet 16 with their win over Grand Canyon. However, to Mark Sears among others, one of the biggest keys for them was their freshman forward in Mouhamed Dioubate.
Sears credited Dioubate for his impact on them late in the 72-61 victory over the Lopes in Spokane. He noted how he did it all for them on both ends in their crucial stretch in the game to help them close it and take them to Los Angeles next weekend.
“He won us the game the last five minutes,” said Sears. “I think he had a stretch of like eight straight points or something like that. He got O-boards and he did it on both sides of the floor.”
“We don’t win this game without him,” Sears said.
In Dioubate’s own words, he just sunk into the game when his opportunity came in the final minutes. He did whatever he needed to do and did he ever based on his second-half stat line, specifically in the final six and a half minutes.
“I was just playing hard and I got lost in the game, honestly,” said Dioubate. “I wasn’t thinking about scoring. I just let the game come to me.”
“Coach put me in with a few minutes left in the game because Jarin (Stevenson) fouled out. I just tried to play as hard as I can and let my defense contribute to offense,” Dioubate said. “That’s what I did.”
Dioubate played in 13 minutes off the bench for the Crimson Tide in the 11-point victory. In total, he finished with nine points on 50% shooting and all three makes from the free-throw line. He also contributed five board, all of which came on the offensive glass, and a pair of blocks.
Basically all of that production came in the last six minutes of the game. That was when Grand Canyon had come back and actually taken a three-point lead. That stretch is when all of Dioubate’s points, two of his offensive rebounds, and one of his blocks came. That helped to flip the momentum back to Alabama as they closed the game on 17-6 run after the game was tied at 55.
Again, plenty of players, including Sears with a great performance, got ‘Bama across the finish line and into the second weekend of the NCAA Tournament. Still, of all of the contributions that did it, plenty of praise is going Dioubate’s way for what he added in the end to help get them the win.