No. 9 Alabama men’s basketball took down No. 6 Houston 85-80 in overtime on Tuesday night in each team’s first matchup of the inaugural Players Era Festival in Las Vegas.

This well-balanced victory of offense and defense gave Alabama its second-straight win against a ranked opponent, as the Crimson Tide looks to continue to build off of that momentum throughout the rest of the upcoming challenging slate of games.

There’s so much to dissect from this matchup at MGM Grand Garden Arena. Here are three takeaways:

Who would’ve thought that a player averaging under 10 minutes per game this season would be the x-factor against a team that has more wins than anyone else in college basketball over the past five years?

Enter Alabama 6-foot-7 sophomore forward Mouhamed Dioubate, who had perhaps the best game of his collegiate career on Tuesday night after logging his first career double-double with 10 points and a career-high 16 rebounds to go along with three blocks to go along with a steal in 28 minutes. Dioubate’s more known for his defense, and his energy and lockdown presence up top and down low was a big factor in Houston’s 36.9 field goal percentage.

“I just play my game, honestly,” Dioubate said during the postgame press conference. “Even if it was like any other team that we play, I would’ve brought the same intensity in the game. I know I do that on the court. Coach told me before the game ‘This is a Mo Dioubate game,’ so I was prepared for it even if we played any other team. I brought [the same intensity] tonight and we got the win.”

While Dioubate led the way on this end of the court, the Crimson Tide as a whole locked down the Cougars throughout the evening with numerous scoring droughts, including one that lasted over seven minutes in the second half without a made field goal. Alabama also forced 12 turnovers and came down with a solid 28 defensive rebounds (plus a season-high 20 offensive rebounds)––a stat category it’s been subpar in to start the season.

“Mo was great on defense, his rebounding and those three blocked shots he had and they were timely blocks,” Oats said. “He erased some mistakes. He had a little bit of Noah Clowney in him if you will. Our defense was third in the country when Noah was with us and he erased a lot of mistakes. We kind of need a guy who can play the four and pair him with Grant [Nelson] or Cliff [Omoruyi] at the five.”

To no one’s surprise, Dioubate easily won the Hard Hat for scoring an easily team-high 40 blue-collar points. This is “unheard of” according to Oats as the “entire team sometimes doesn’t even get 80.”

The Crimson Tide scored 100 points against then-No. 25 Illinois but Preseason All-American point guard Mark Sears shockingly didn’t add any to the total. As the score suggests, numerous players stepped up for him and he even subbed himself out last week as the backcourt depth was on fire.

But as expected that game proved to be a fluke as the senior guard led the Crimson Tide with 24 points against the Cougars, including a clutch 3-pointer in the final minute of regulation and opening minutes of overtime. 12 of his points came at the charity stripe as Houston’s renowned defense struggled to cover him without fouling. Sears also moved to No. 23 on Alabama’s all-time scoring list with 1,353 career points, passing Levi Randolph.

Aside from Sears, there hasn’t been another Alabama player more talked about this season than freshman guard Labaron Philon. He’s been an impact player on both sides of the ball in each of the Tide’s first five games, including a dominant all-around performance against Illinois––one of the aforementioned players who stepped up for Sears––as he won the SEC Freshman of the Week honor on Monday.

Tuesday night was Sears’ turn to support Philon as the up-and-coming freshman scored just one point via a free throw while going 0-of-9 from the field. His rough evening resulted in just 15 minutes spent on the floor, but based on his overall performance as a first-year player and starter, he should be back to his normal dynamic self against Rutgers at the Players Era Festival in Las Vegas tonight at 9 p.m. CT on TBS.

“I think that if you attack Houston correctly, the ball moves,” Oats said during Monday evening’s press conference. “You can’t be selfish and beat these guys. They’re going to put two on the ball, they’re going to put some ball screens, they’re going to take your best guards out of it blitzing them. The ball’s got to move.

“If the ball moves, typically you’ve got more guys scoring because it finds different guys, it moves and finds them throughout the game. I think if you play the way you need to play to beat these guys, the ball is going to move and you’re going to have multiple guys end up scoring the ball pretty well.”

Well, the ball certainly moved around on offense as five Alabama players finished in double figures. In addition to Dioubate and Sears, guards Latrell Wrightsell Jr. (12 points) and Aden Holloway (14) plus forward Grant Nelson (13) also scored 10-plus points––which has been a common theme for these three of late.

Wrightsell has put up at least 10 points in every game this season except for when he scored nine against Arkansas State. He’s been perhaps the Tide’s most efficient option when looking for corner threes and the same applied on Tuesday evening.

Nelson has scored 10-plus points in every game this season except for the opener when he had restricted minutes due to a pre-existing injury. He was one point shy of a career-high with 23 points against Illinois as he couldn’t miss from behind the arc, but his post play and efforts down low against Houston helped him on the stats sheet by also grabbing 10 rebounds for a double-double and two steals.

Holloway hasn’t been as consistent as Wrightsell and Nelson just yet, but he also hasn’t played as many minutes as them. However, in the now-three games he’s seen over 20 minutes of floor time, he’s finished with double-digit points in each, including the second-most on the team against the Cougars. Holloway was another player who stepped up for Sears against Illinois after finishing with 18 points on 7-of-10 from the field.

“Super skilled, shoots it really well, can stretch the floor, makes great reads as a point guard, can really pass the ball and he’s gotten significantly better on defense,” Oats said of Holloway on Tuesday night. “I think he’s a great fit for us with how we spread the floor out and how we value skilled, unselfish guards that can really stretch the floor with his shooting. He doesn’t miss many shots in practice. I’ve seen him make some really tough shots, deep shots, and he’s been great for us.”