Among the flurry of points Alabama scored Friday night against Charleston in the first round of the 2024 NCAA Tournament was a basket that came with a notable historical distinction.

With a 3-pointer with 17:34 remaining in the 4 seed Crimson Tide’s game against the 13 seed Cougars, guard Mark Sears reached 698 points for the 2023-24 season, moving him into second place all-time for points in a season for an Alabama player.

In reaching that achievement, he passed Brandon Miller, who scored 696 points in his lone season with the Tide, in 2022-23, before moving on to the NBA, where he was taken by the Charlotte Hornets with the No. 2 overall pick in the 2023 NBA Draft.

Sears was a first-team all-SEC honoree this season, his second with Alabama since transferring from Ohio in 2022. Entering the NCAA Tournament, he was averaging a team-high 21.1 points per game, the 15th-highest mark among all Division I players and the second-best average among SEC players, behind only the 21.2 points per game averaged by Tennessee’s Dalton Knecht.

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Alabama basketball single-season scoring record

Depending on how far Alabama goes in the 2024 NCAA Tournament, and depending on how many points its star guard scores, Sears could finish the 2023-24 season as the program’s single-season scoring leader.

The longstanding single-season scoring record in Tide history belongs to Reggie King, who scored 747 points during the 1978-79 season.

With 29 points with 11 minutes remaining in Friday’s game against Charleston, and with Alabama leading 82-58, Sears was at 705 points, 42 behind King. Given Sears’ scoring average, Alabama would likely need to win its second-round game Sunday to advance to the Sweet 16 and give Sears at least two more games to add to his scoring total.

This article originally appeared on The Tuscaloosa News: Mark Sears moves past Brandon Miller on Alabama single-season scoring list