No. 18 Alabama came away with a 97-82 road win over Mississippi State in SEC men’s college basketball action on Tuesday night in Starkville. While the game featured plenty of big plays for the Crimson Tide, led by 32 points from Labaron Philon Jr., the highlight of the night came during a postgame interview on SEC Network.
SEC Network’s Dari Nowkhah, a former longtime SportsCenter anchor for ESPN, interviewed Philon and basically the entire Alabama team after the game.
Nowkhah, speaking from the SEC Network studio, said to Philon, “Ask Houston (Mallette) why in the hell he wears number 95, please.”
“Dude on TV, he said, ‘Why do you wear number 95?'” Philon passed along to Mallette, while Nowkhah laughed.
“Dude on TV said why do you wear number 95?” 😂
Houston Mallette’s answer is 🔥 @AlabamaMBB pic.twitter.com/2PBKcOsJXT
— SEC Network (@SECNetwork) January 14, 2026
“Hey, I’m going to tell you the reason,” Philon told Nowkhah. “The reason he wears number 95 is because of blue-collar, he wants to do everything out of heart.”
Mallette then leaned over to speak into the headset and explain the number reasoning.
“You’ve only got the ball five percent of the game; how are you impacting in the other 95 percent?” Mallette said. “Basically, that’s why.”
Mallette’s teammates were impressed with the explanation.
“That had an aura, brother,” Philon said. “I ain’t gonna lie.”
Mallette is a fifth-year senior who is a key role player for Alabama and scored seven points while pulling down five rebounds off the bench in the victory.
And that number choice probably had a deeper meaning than “Dude on TV” thought when he asked the question.
About Matt Clapp
Matt is an editor/writer at The Comeback and Awful Announcing.
He can be reached by email at mclapp@thecomeback.com.