With a Sweet 16 spot on the line, Alabama and Saint Mary’s squared off in the second round of the 2025 NCAA Tournament. Both teams had survived close first-round games—Alabama, the No. 2 seed, held off No. 15 Robert Morris, 90-81, while No. 7 Saint Mary’s edged past No. 10 Vanderbilt, 59-56.
From the jump, Alabama came out firing, running up a 78-63 after the halftime lead. But instead of celebrating, some fans on social media found something—or someone—else to focus on: senior guard Mark Sears. One twitter user stirred things up by posting, “Alabama is better with Sears on the bench,” a comment that quickly took off and turned Sears into the punchline of the night.
Alabama is better with Sears on the bench
— JJ MCCARTHY LOVER (@ZachWilsonSzn2) March 23, 2025
Of course, anyone who’s followed Alabama this season knows Sears has been a key player. He led the team with 24 points in an OT win over Houston earlier this year. But in this game, with Alabama rolling while he wasn’t making much noise, the online crowd had jokes. Now, as the tide push forward in the tournament, Sears has the perfect chance to shut them all up.
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