Alabama basketball hit another exciting stretch during its second game at the Player’s Era Festival. The Crimson Tide were hard-pressed by a relentless Rutgers team in their 93-88 victory. But just like in the first game of the tournament against Houston, Alabama managed just enough to overcome a troublesome and talented opponent.

The Scarlet Knights were led by two fearless freshmen and a supporting cast that forced errors and mistakes from No. 9 Alabama to stay in the game. Alabama guard Mark Sears continued his impressive form after a strong game in the Tide’s first game of the tournament against Houston. Rutgers freshman Dylan Harper and Ace Bailey combined for 59 points with Sears’ performance, while both players continued to fend off everyone Alabama threw at them.

Despite the best efforts of several future NBA draft picks, Alabama managed to find its offense from beyond the arc, overcome early mistakes and lean on its best player to reach the Player’s Era Festival championship game.

Here are three takeaways from Alabama’s second matchup against Rutgers.

The opening tip indicated that both teams played the night before. Although Alabama’s strength helped it to an 85-80 overtime win over Houston, the Tide were not immune to fatigue in the opening minutes against the Scarlet Knights.

Luckily for Alabama, Rutgers managed to capitalize on the early energy, or lack thereof, to start the game. Both teams lost a total of ten turnovers in the first nine minutes and were tied at 13 points at the U12 media timeout. The Tide went on a 9-0 run midway through the first half, but it hardly felt damaging as the points came between turnovers and fouls on both sides.

Alabama struggled with giveaways in both games of the Players Era Tournament. The Tide had four turnovers in its first five possessions as it figured out how to handle the Cougars’ sensational defense. Rutgers has a top-100 defense according to KenPom, but Alabama seemed to create a lot of its own problems.

However, the Tide maintained the early lead as Rutgers was unable to convert Alabama’s giveaways into points. Rutgers did not convert on Alabama’s first eight turnovers of the game, but began to benefit when the Tide posted a double-digit turnover, helping Rutgers tie the game at 7:51 of the first half.

As the first half progressed, both teams’ shots began to fall, but Alabama continued to pass the ball. The Tide entered Wednesday night averaging 11.2 turnovers per game but had 11 by the end of the opening period against Rutgers.

Alabama’s turnover problems subsided a bit, but didn’t stop in the second half. The Crimson Tide finished with 20 giveaways, including a pair of crucial turnovers that led to Alabama nearly giving up an eight-point lead in the final minutes.

Alabama’s mistakes in the first half overshadowed an otherwise strong shooting performance in the opening period. The Tide shot 55% and made five 3-pointers in the first half, but the score was tied 41-41 at halftime.

That performance wasn’t overshadowed in the second half as Alabama gained a foothold in the game. The Tide finished with 40% shooting from beyond the 3-point line. His playmaking skills became more important as the game went on and Rutgers continued to use Alabama on defense.

The Tide moved the ball well and found open shooters, although Rutgers continued to force turnovers and did its best to chase Alabama on every possession. Five players hit 3-pointers, including forward Jarin Stevenson. The sophomore hit two 3s from the same spot in the right corner after starting the season 0 for 18 from beyond the arc.

While Alabama’s 3s continued to fall, the same cannot be said about the Tide’s charity shots for much of the game. Alabama shot just 67.6% from the free throw line in this game. His missed free throws prevented the Tide from pulling away in a foul-heavy game. At one point, Alabama’s 3-point percentage was 46.7% while its free throw percentage was a lowly 42.9%.

While Rutgers continued to hang around, Alabama’s best player decided to take matters into his own hands.

Sears has completely put its 0-point performance behind it. He led Alabama with 24 points in the win over Houston and followed that performance with a spectacular second-half performance to help the Tide fight back against a struggling Rutgers team. Sears again collected 24 points as well as five assists and two steals.

Alabama’s best player scored 13 points in the first five minutes of the second half, giving Alabama the lead it needed, especially after he picked up his fourth foul and was sent to the bench.

With Sears out, Rutgers was able to pick up the pace and get back into the game. When Sears returned, Alabama went on a 7-0 run to take an 87-78 lead with five minutes left. The veteran Sears reassured his teammates and the Tide urged him to be aggressive and earn another hard-fought victory.

Alabama (6-1) will face Oregon (7-0) in the Player’s Era Festival championship game. The two teams will face off at the MGM Grand Arena on Saturday at 8:30 p.m. CT. The game will be broadcast on TNT.