Mark Sears of sixth-ranked Alabama is The Associated Press men’s college basketball national player of the week.

This past week, the negatives towards Sears were thrown out the window when then-No. 4 Alabama lost to then-No. 15 Missouri on Wednesday but took down then-No. 17 Kentucky on Saturday. Sears was the reason for the Crimson Tide's numerous comeback efforts against the Tigers and was also the main catalyst to an explosive latter 30 minutes against the Wildcats.

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