AP men's player of the week: Mark Sears has back-to-back 3-point games for No. 6 Crimson Tide

The Associated Press national player of the week in men's college basketball for Week 16 of the season:

Mark Sears, Alabama

The senior guard from from Muscle Shoals, Alabama, became only the second player in the last 20 years with back-to-back 30-point games against ranked opponents as the second-ranked Crimson Tide split a pair of games last week.

Sears started off by hitting five 3-pointers and matching a career high with 35 points while dishing out five assists in a 110-98 loss at No. 14 Missouri on Wednesday night. Three days later, Sears scored 30 points with four rebounds and four assists as the Crimson Tide rolled to a 96-83 victory over No. 17 Kentucky.

Sears is second in the SEC in scoring at 18.9 points per game, and the preseason All-American is also averaging 4.8 assists for the nation's highest-scoring team. The Crimson Tide headed into Tuesday night's game against No. 24 Mississippi State tied with Florida two games back of top-ranked Auburn in the conference standings. They wrap the regular season at No. 5 Tennessee on Saturday, then host the No. 3 Gators next week before a mammoth trip to Auburn on March 8.

Runner-up

Chaz Lanier, Tennessee. The senior from Nashville had 30 points and five rebounds to help the fifth-ranked Volunteers to a 77-69 win over then-No. 7 Texas A&M in their only game last week. That made Lanier the second SEC player in the last 20 years to score at least 30 points in a win against a top-10 team on the road. He was 8 of 13 from beyond the arc against the Aggies, tying for the second most 3-pointers in a game in school history.

Honorable mention

Johni Broome, Auburn; Cooper Flagg, Duke; Barry Dunning Jr., South Alabama.

Keep an eye on

Izaiyah Nelson, Arkansas State. The junior from Marietta, Georgia, had 16 points and a career-high 23 rebounds in a 60-56 loss to South Alabama last week, tying for the second most rebounds in a Division I game this season. Nelson followed with 18 points and 10 boards in a 95-70 rout of Louisiana-Monroe. He has three consecutive double-doubles for the Red Wolves (20-9, 11-5 Sun Belt), who are a game back of James Madison in their conference race. They visit Louisiana and Louisiana-Monroe this week.

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