The best Alabama basketball offensive plays through its first two NCAA Tournament games have looked similar. One of the Crimson Tide guards lobs the ball up toward the hoop, and Cliff Omoruyi slams it home.

Omoruyi had five dunks in Sunday’s 80-66 win over Saint Mary’s. He finished the game with 10 points in addition to his team-leading 11 rebounds.

Mark Sears has earned the assist on many of the lobs to Omoruyi. The guard from Muscle Shoals said the center from Nigeria has made it easy.

“He’s the most athletic big in the country,” Sears said in the locker room after Sunday’s win. “So anytime we can get downhill, we’re gonna make the big man collapse and we’re gonna throw it up to him.”

The most impressive came with just under eight minutes left in the game. Sears threw it up and Omoruyi caught the ball in the air, and had to reverse jam it to get the dunk down.

The dunk gave the Crimson Tide a 14-point lead.

“That was actually a terrible pass,” Sears said. “But he made me look so good by reversing it. And I was in shock too, I couldn’t even believe it, but he reverse slammed, and it was crazy. He definitely got the energy going.”

For his part, Omoruyi said the reverse was largely to get around a Saint Mary’s player who stood between him the basket.

“I knew Mark was gonna throw the lob, but I didn’t know someone was gonna be in front of me trying to tip it,” Omoruyi said. “I didn’t know I was going to reverse it… The instincts just took over.”

Omoruyi had six dunks to begin the NCAA Tournament against Robert Morris. He wasn’t the only big to get in on the alley-oop action against Saint Mary’s, with Grant Nelson also throwing down a dunk off a lob.

UA guard Labaron Philon explained what has made the strategy so successful.

“Our bigs getting out, rolling the right way,” Philon said. “Not letting the other team hold them on on their roll. Drawing fouls, contact screens, being able to get us downhill. And coach (Nate Oats) tells us all the time, these guys are gonna screen, rebound and take care of you. You gotta take care of them, so you just try to make them look good.”

Alabama will be back in action on Thursday in Newark in the Sweet 16. The Crimson Tide will face BYU to begin the second weekend of March Madness.