TUSCALOOSA, Ala. (AP) Mark Sears scored 24 points to go with five rebounds and six assists as No. 22 Alabama beat Mercer 98-67 on Friday night.

Sears shot 8-for-12 from the field and made seven of his eight free throw attempts.

ā€œHeā€™s gotten a lot better at making reads,ā€ Alabama coach Nate Oats said. ā€œHe was six assists and only one turnover tonight. Mark, when he drives, heā€™s finishing at the rim, getting fouled or making the correct spray out (pass) about 95% of the time. Heā€™s grown a lot in his decision-making and heā€™s always been pretty tough and physical going downhill.ā€

Nick Pringle and Jarin Stevenson scored 14 for the Crimson Tide and Aaron Estrada had 10.

Mercer (1-3) was led by Jalyn McCreary with 17 points and eight rebounds and Amanze Ngumezi had 11 points.

Alabama (4-0) trailed early in its last two home games against Indiana State and South Alabama, but had no such trouble with the Bears, jumping out to a 15-4 lead in the first four minutes. Alabama shot 79% from the field in the first half, its first time shooting better than 70% in a half since Nov. 29, 2019.

ā€œYou got to pick your poison,ā€ Mercer coach Greg Gary said. ā€œYou have to gap it up to stop them from getting to the rim but you have to have great closeouts.ā€

BIG PICTURE

Alabama is about to get a significant increase in the quality of its competition, with a chance that six of its next seven games are against teams from Power 5 conferences. It goes into that series of games with a red-hot offense, having scored 98 or more points in the first four games of its regular season and shooting at least 42% from 3-point range.

ā€œTheyā€™re going to guard us harder than weā€™ve been guarded and our defense is going to have to markedly improve,ā€ Oats said. ā€œI think itā€™s been a good first four games for us, particularly with a new squad and the chemistry has been good.ā€

UP NEXT

Mercer: Travels to Destin, Florida, for the Emerald Coast Classic and a Nov. 24 game against Tennessee State.

Alabama: Travels to Destin, Florida, for an Emerald Coast Classic game against Ohio State on Nov. 24, its first game away from home and its first game against a Power 5 opponent this season.

---

Get poll alerts and updates on AP Top 25 basketball throughout the season. Sign up here ---

AP college basketball: https://apnews.com/hub/ap-top-25-college-basketball-poll and https://apnews.com/hub/college-basketball

Copyright 2024 STATS LLC and Associated Press. Any commercial use or distribution without the express written consent of STATS LLC and Associated Press is strictly prohibited.