SPOKANE, Wash. — Mark Sears made sure to learn from others' mistakes Friday.
Before he took the court for the first time in the 2024 NCAA Tournament, Sears had a chance to watch the No. 4 seed Auburn Tigers fall to No. 13 seed Yale on the same court Alabama would play the next game. He didn't want the same thing to happen to the No. 4 seed Crimson Tide, facing No. 13 seed Charleston.
Witnessing that result inspired him to want to get stops, he said.
"Seeing what happened to Auburn last game, I didn't want that to happen to us," Sears said. "I just really wanted to get stops, and I feel like our guys really came prepared and got stops and made a big run."
Sears not only got stops but also scored 30 points, the fifth Alabama player to do so in NCAA Tournament history. Alabama went on to win 109-96 over Charleston.
The Cougars scored frequently toward the end of the game when it had already been put away, but Alabama held Charleston to less than one point per possession in the first half to build the lead.
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Nick Kelly is the Alabama beat writer for The Tuscaloosa News, part of the USA TODAY Network, and he covers Alabama football and men's basketball. Reach him at nkelly@gannett.com or follow him @_NickKelly on X, the social media app formerly known as Twitter .
This article originally appeared on The Tuscaloosa News: Mark Sears didn't want Alabama to replicate Auburn's performance
