Nate Oats praises Mark Sears' coachability, leadership after second straight 30-point game

TUSCALOOSA, Ala. – Mark Sears has scored 30 points seven times during his 5-year college career. Two of those have been in his last two games. 

Sears scored 30 points in Alabama’s 96-83 win over No. 17 Kentucky on Saturday evening at Coleman Coliseum. One game earlier, the senior guard tied his career-high of 35 points in the Crimson Tide’s road loss at Missouri. 

The Muscle Shoals, Alabama native seems to be hitting his stride down the final stretch.

“Sears is playing the best basketball I’ve seen him play since he’s been here, on both sides of the ball,” said Alabama head coach Nate Oats. “… I think his defensive effort has been pretty good, the best it’s been. And then I think offensively, he’s been really efficient.”

Sears is averaging 18.9 points per game through the Tide’s 27 regular-season games played. His last two contests, however, have been his best of the 2024-25 season. Against Missouri and Kentucky, Sears shot 51.4% from the floor, 42.1% from behind the 3-point line and 94.4% at the free-throw line. He scored 65 combined points on just 37 shot attempts.

The veteran guard has also cut down on his turnovers of late. In the win over the Wildcats, Sears only turned the ball over twice, compared to four assists. One of those, Oats explained, was Sears trying to maybe force the ball to Clifford Omoruyi, in an effort to get him one more bucket and secure a double-double for the Alabama big man.

Otherwise, Oats has seen a difference in how Sears’ decision-making when driving to the rim.

“He’s not really forcing it, pressing it,” Oats said. “He got stuck in the lane, where in the past, I think he would have thrown up a bad shot. He kicks it out. I think (Aden) Holloway hit a three off it, if I remember correctly. We got a good shot off the possession. 

“He’s trying to play the right way. He’s as coachable as he’s ever been. And his effort on defense has been through the roof, really, the last three, four weeks or so. So just a combination of let’s get him to lead, let’s play the right way on both sides of the ball and give us total effort on defense, and I think he’s been doing that.

“I’m super happy with the way he’s been playing.”

Oats was complimentary of Sears after the Kentucky game, praising his efficiency, coachability and leadership, which the head coach said is “the best it’s ever been” during timeouts.

The outcome of Alabama’s previous two games ignited a fire in the All-American.

“We don’t like losing,” Sears said. “We lost two games in a row, and that’s unacceptable here. Just going out there, playing with the mindset of we can’t afford another loss, especially three in a row. So just going out there and having that mindset of can’t lose back to back to back.”

Sears “just wants to win,” Oats said. He returned to Tuscaloosa for a fifth season to try to win a national championship for his home-state team. It’s also why the veteran has been fine with playing off the ball more of late.

In Columbia, Missouri, Oats reinserted Labaron Philon into the starting lineup, the freshman guard has run the point a lot of the time he’s been on the floor at the same time as Sears. It’s a change the senior has embraced the mid-February change.

“Whenever Labaron’s in there or Aden’s in there, I just tell them, ‘Run the team,’” Sears said. “I’m also there to be a playmaker, as well. But they pull a lot of stress off me and the whole team. They do an unbelievable job of creating offense, being able to make plays.”

When Oats made the move, he told Sears to trust the newcomer like he did Aaron Estrada a year ago during Alabama’s Final Four run. The last two games, that trust has paid off.

“I told him you’re going to score more points on fewer shots,” Sears said. “I think 17 is the same that he got against Auburn two games ago. His output on these 17 shots was better than it was against Auburn. So he’s scoring more points on the same amount of shots.

“He’s playing well. His efficiency on offense, his effort on defense – I’m looking at the defensive leverage. He had a positive defensive leverage, which that hasn’t always been the case. We were 18 points better per 100 possessions with him on the floor than when he was off on defense today, and that’s great for him.”

Not a member, Alabama fans? Join BOL today!

Have you subscribed to BamaOnLine.com yet? You can sign up for ONE MONTH of premium access to our Alabama coverage for just $11.99! Be able to read all of BOL’s premium articles and nuggets covering Alabama sports and recruiting and also join thousands of other Crimson Tide fans around the globe on the BOL Round Table message board! CLICK HERE!