What Nate Oats needs from Mark Sears to overcome scoring slump for Alabama

Alabama guard Mark Sears (1) dribbles to the basket against Florida at Bridgestone Arena during the SEC Tournament in Nashville, TN on Saturday, Mar 15, 2025. Photo by Crimson Tide Photos / UA Athletics

Mark Sears went into Alabama’s final regular season game on a scoring serge. He scored 30 points in the Crimson Tide’s loss to Tennessee and looked poised to continue that trend in Alabama's second game of the season against Auburn.

However, Sears had just nine points in Alabama’s thrilling win. He scored the same amount in Alabama’s loss to Florida in the semifinals of the SEC Tournament. The fifth-year guard's scoring form has dipped from the usual first-team All-SEC production that earned Sears the honor this season. In Alabama’s last three games, Sears has just 11 of 36 from the field, including just 2 of 16 from 3-point range.

Alabama managed to win two of those games without Sears leading the way in the scoring department. One of Sears’ few field goals against Auburn was the game-winner in overtime, and his teammates picking up the slack helped Alabama to a blowout win over Kentucky in the SEC quarterfinals.

However, Sears couldn’t get anything going against the Gators. His form spread to the rest of Alabama’s backcourt, which struggled to make shots against Florida’s defense. Alabama now turns his attention to the NCAA Tournament and needs Sears to re-find his shot for the Tide to make another deep run.

“We’ll be back here in our home gym. I’m sure he’ll get shots up,” Alabama coach Nate Oats said. “He’s a guy that needs to be in the gym getting his confidence up.”

Alabama has four days before its first game in the Big Dance against No. 15 seed Robert Morris. That should help Sears get his legs back under him and get some extra shooting work to re-polish his jumper before Alabama attempts to make another run to the Final Four. But Oats also wants to emphasize to Sears that even when his scoring isn’t a factor, he can still be instrumental in Alabama winning games going forward.

“When you’re as skilled as he is, and he’s one of the most skilled kids I’ve ever coach — I mean, he’s in the gym all the time," Oats said, "He’s a gym rat. It’s not like he’s lost his shot. When you’re as skilled as he is and you just lose yourself in the game, playing the right way on the defensive end, giving really good effort on the defensive end, playing the right way on the offensive end, the shooting will take care of itself.”

Oats sees some of Sears' struggles shooting as an opportunity for him to show that he can impact Alabama’s games in other ways. The Tide’s switch to a three-guard lineup helped unlock his offensive game more. Oats has previously praised Sears previously for his improvement as a defender and his playmaking ability. He thought the guard made good reads in Alabama’s loss Saturday, but it wasn't reflected in the box score due to a poor shooting night for Alabama.

How much Sears can get in a rhythm creatively could dictate how far Alabama advances in the NCAA Tournament, just as much as his ability to take over a game with his scoring. Alabama certainly can’t afford Sears to disappear at the most important time. But instead of looking at his recent output as a concern, Oats is choosing to see it as an opportunity for Sears to prove he’s an even more complete player than simply a dominant scorer.

“He’s a great defender when he wants to be,” Oats said. “He can make the right reads. He can run a team. He can be a lot more than just a scorer to impact winning and he needs to realize that and I think if he just buys all into that, the scoring and the shooting will take care of itself with the amount of time he’s going to be able to get in the gym now that we’re back home.”

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