No. 7 Alabama basketball took down No. 1 Auburn on Saturday on the road 93-91 in overtime via a game-winning buzzer-beater by guard Mark Sears.

This was Alabama's final game of the regular season and Sears ended it on the highest of notes to silence a once-deafening Neville Arena with his floater. The final result also clinched the No. 3 seed in the SEC Tournament for the Crimson Tide.

There's so much to dissect from this matchup at Neville Arena. Here are three takeaways:

Throughout the season, no Alabama men's basketball player has been more critiqued than guard Mark Sears. But his dominant play for the last few games has thrown any negatives about him out the window. But Crimson Tide fans found another player to ridicule for the past couple of weeks in Sears' place.

Before Saturday, Nelson had the following point totals in the last seven games: 7, 12, 8, 5, 6, 7, 10. But a switch flipped immediately against Auburn and it eliminated any chance of yet another slow start for Alabama––which plagued the Tide in the first game against the Tigers.

"We do need Grant to be a little more aggressive, a little bit more efficient in his minutes," Alabama head coach Nate Oats said prior to the Tennessee game. "His turnovers, in some games he's been a little inconsistent with taking care of the ball. We need him to take care of the ball a little bit better, too.”

Nelson scored 15 points by halftime on Saturday. He shot 5 of 9 from the field, including 2-for-3 from behind the arc. Nelson, who has been quiet for the last couple of weeks, wouldn't be stopped by the No. 1 team in the country in the opening 20 minutes.

“He’s an athletic big, and with the way he moves and attacks the rim, he gets banged up a little bit here and there," Oats said after the Auburn game. "But I thought getting him downhill early was important. We need him to be aggressive. That transition and-1 he got hopefully got his confidence going. And I like the fact he went in to dunk the one, missed it. It didn’t really faze him. He just kept playing."

Nelson was Alabama's only double-digit scorer in the first half as guard Chris Youngblood was the closest with nine points. In the first period, Nelson went bucket-for-bucket against Auburn forward and National Player of the Year Candidate Johni Broome (16 points) and guard Tahaad Pettiford (14).

Auburn head coach Bruce Pearl desperately had to make adjustments against Nelson at halftime and it worked a bit as he scored eight points in the second half/overtime. Nevertheless, he still finished with a Crimson Tide-high in points (23) and tied for the team-lead in rebounds (8) and blocks (1).

"I was happy with his aggressiveness," Oats said. "We need him playing aggressive. He was one of the best players in the country last year in March when we made our Final Four run. Hopefully, we get [that version of] Grant Nelson back for another March run for us.”

Some of Alabama's poor defensive performances have stemmed from the three-point line while others were down low and in the paint. This was without question the latter and it was an issue all night long.

Alabama allowed Florida to shoot 49 percent from the floor and score 52 points in the paint. The Crimson Tide really struggled with the Gators' physicality as it was demolished in the rebounding battle 50-35, including 16 offensive rebounds which led to 19 second-chance points.

Winning the interior was one of Oats' top priorities coming into this game not only due to the Florida loss, but Alabama also struggled in these areas against Auburn during their first game on Feb. 15. With this in mind, the Tide showed a ton of improvement on the glass as it beat the Tigers 41-33, including 10 offensive rebounds for 18 second-chance points.

Along with Nelson, Clifford Omoruyi was another starter who made his presence known down low as he also grabbed eight rebounds (three offensive) and scored 15 points. He didn't miss a shot all game as he went 7-for-7 from the field with consistency in both halves.

While Nelson and Omoruyi shined among the starting lineup, the frontcourt duo had additional help from Aiden Sherrell off the bench. The freshman was perfectly healthy for Alabama's first matchup against Auburn, but Oats did not play him for a single minute in the 9-point home loss.

“It had nothing to do with the way Aiden’s been playing because I think he’s been playing much better basketball," Oats said after the first Auburn game. "I did feel bad. We tried to win the game, and I thought we went with guys who were working.

However, the Crimson Tide head coach gave Sherrell a chance on Saturday and he didn't disappoint. In 16 minutes, Sherrell logged eight points on 3 of 3 shooting with seven rebounds (two offensive) and a block. Most impressively, he won the Hard Hat award for recording the most blue-collar points––and he did it with the least amount of minutes on the team on Saturday.

That's a heck of a story for the former McDonald's All-American as he aims to continue improving in the SEC Tournament and NCAA Tournament.

Two top-10 teams in the final game of the regular season go to overtime and the player who hits the game-winner at the buzzer is from the state––the second Iron Bowl of Basketball couldn't have had a better ending.

Alabama guard Mark Sears hit the shot via a floater that made Neville Arena so quiet that you could hear a pin drop. The entire college basketball world knew that the Preseason All-American and Bob Cousy Award finalist was going to take the last shot, and he converted.

"When we needed him late, he came through and delivered," Oats said. "He bailed me out because that play design wasn’t all that great, to be honest with you. The thing that was great about it was it was in a pretty good player’s hands. So he delivered for us there late."

But Sears, who came into Saturday averaging 28.0 points over the last five games, had tallied just seven prior to the biggest shot of the season. Of course, he dished a team-high seven assists with only one turnover but the standards were a bit higher based on how he's performed the past couple of weeks.

"My teammates, man, I had a quiet game," Sears told ESPN's Molly McGrath after the game. "Shoutout to Grant Nelson and Labaron Philon. Those guys really stepped up. I'm just able to come through and deliver."

Nelson was big in the first half and had some big plays in the second, but Crimson Tide freshman guard Labaron Philon was stellar in the second half and overtime. All but two of Philon's 15 points came in the latter 25 minutes, while also hauling in four rebounds, three assists and a steal that resulted in a pivotal breakaway layup.

“He was huge," Oats said. "That steal and layup kind of turned the whole course of the game there late. I thought he made some big plays, was pretty good on defense. He goes to the free-throw line, makes two huge free throws late. He’s got that it factor about him. I mean, he’s a confident kid.

"He’s a winner, plays hard, high-IQ guy. He made a huge 3 for us late. He didn’t shoot it great most of the game. That was the only one he hit. But he made some plays when it counted, and we’re going to need him to keep doing that here to make a run in March.”