Lamont Paris praises Alabama's Mark Sears: 'He was doing it all'
Over the course of SEC play, South Carolina will face a lot of talented players. But none might be better than Alabama’s Mark Sears.
On Tuesday, the Gamecocks got a look at just how good the senior guard has been this year. He finished with a game-high 31 points, six rebounds and three assists in a 74-47 win for the Crimson Tide.
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After the game, head coach Lamont Paris could do nothing more than tip his cap to how well he played.
“He made plays, he’s a good player, he was aggressive,” Paris said. “I didn’t even see what his numbers were on the whole game, but it seemed like he was doing it all. Had some nice finishes, an and-one, made some strong moves.”
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Right out of the gate, Sears was playing like his hair was on fire. He was given open looks and took full advantage of them, hitting three shots from behind the arc. By the end of the first half, he was already up to 15 points.
“They made some shots in the first half,” Paris said. “Honestly, we did a good job defensively in the first half. A couple break downs but they made a couple shots that are normally the shots that we encourage teams to make and they made them. That’s why the game was actually where it was.”
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Trailing by one entering the second half, South Carolina had to find a way to contain Sears and company. But the defense continued to have no answers for the SEC’s leading scorer. He was perfect from three-point range and went 5-for-6 from the field after halftime.
Now in his fourth season of college basketball, Sears is having his best year so far. After putting up 12.5 points per game last year, he’s now averaging 20.2 points on 54.8 percent shooting.
“You don’t trip and fall and stumble your way into the numbers he’s put up this year,” Paris said. “He’s a great player. They look for him, he creates in a lot of different ways for himself and for his teammates. He’s unselfish, he can get shots and make buckets without pressing too much. So, good player.”
