Alabama guard Mark Sears has endured a topsy-turvy season in which he twice was held scoreless and was benched for the entire second half in the more recent blanking.But lately he has played like someone in his fifth college season. Sears will look for his third straight 30-point outing when the No. 6 Crimson Tide battle No. 24 Mississippi State in Southeastern Conference play on Tuesday night at Tuscaloosa, Ala.Sears scored a season-best 35 points in a 110-98 loss to then-No. 15 Missouri last Wednesday before following up with 30 points during Saturday’s 96-83 victory over then-No. 17 Kentucky.The outing against the Wildcats helped the Crimson Tide (22-5, 11-3 SEC) halt a two-game losing streak.”My teammates found me in the right places and I was able to put the ball into the basket,” Sears said of his performance.Sears averaged a career-best 21.5 points and had stellar career-high shooting marks of 50.8 percent from the field and 43.6 percent from 3-point range last season. His numbers this season sit at 18.9 points, 41.2 percent from the field and 35.3 percent from behind the arc.After being benched on Jan. 25 during an 80-73 victory over LSU, Sears was heavily criticized for his lackadaisical defense by Alabama coach Nate Oats.Sears received the message loud and clear and picked up his defensive effort. And how he has put together the first back-to-back 30-point efforts of his career, which began with two seasons at Ohio before three with the Crimson Tide.”Sears is playing the best basketball I’ve seen him play since he’s been here, on both sides of the ball,” Oats said after the Kentucky game. “I think he just wants to win. He came back to try to win a national championship.”… He’s trying to play the right way. He’s as coachable as he’s ever been and his effort on defense has been through the roof really the last three or four weeks.”Aden Holloway added 19 points against Kentucky as the Crimson Tide prevailed despite allowing 80 points for the eighth time in the past 10 games.Mississippi State (19-8, 7-7) is coming off a 93-87 road loss to Oklahoma and has won just five of its last 12 games.