AUBURN, Ala. — Mark Sears hit a game-winning floater as time expired as No. 7 Alabama spoiled the home finale of rival and No. 1 Auburn with a 93-91 overtime road win Saturday.
The off-balance buzzer-beater from the free-throw line was only the third made basket of the game for Sears, who finished with nine points. He’s the first player with a buzzer-beater to beat an AP No. 1 team since Ron Harper Jr.’s half-court shot to beat Purdue in 2021.
Alabama (24-7, 13-5 Southeastern Conference) got 23 points from Grant Nelson and 15 points each from Labaron Philon and Clifford Omoruyi.
The win ended a two-game losing skid for Alabama and handed a second straight loss for Auburn (27-4, 15-3).
Johni Broome scored 34 points, including a game-tying layup in the final minute of regulation and a game-tying 3-pointer with 15 seconds left in overtime. Broome, who logged 43 minutes, is the first player in SEC history to score 30 points in a loss for an AP No. 1 team.
Tahaad Pettiford added 19 points for Auburn, which was without second-leading scorer Chad Baker-Mazara for the final 10:52 of regulation and overtime. Baker-Mazara was ejected for a Flagrant 2 foul on Alabama’s Chris Youngblood.
The win is Alabama coach Nate Oats’ third in his career over AP No. 1 teams, tying the most by a head coach in SEC history.
The Associated Press and ESPN Research contributed to this story.
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