Takeaways from Alabama Basketball's Deflating Loss to Tennessee
TUSCALOOSA, Ala. — The once-fired-up Coleman Coliseum crowd left the building deflated after a hype-filled day, after No. 14 Alabama basketball fell to No. 4 Tennessee 81-74.
The loss completed the season series sweep for the Volunteers, and knocked the Crimson Tide down to 12-4 in SEC play, a full game back from first place.
It was one of the most electric atmospheres I had ever experienced in Coleman, with the program's first-ever time hosting College GameDay preceding the game, but it resulted in Alabama's third straight loss to Tennessee.
Here are my takeaways from the game:
1. It wasn't the defense, but the offense that collapsed.
If you were going to guess what aspect of the game would be Alabama's undoing, I'm assuming the offense wouldn't be at the top of your list.
After all, the Crimson Tide has the No. 1 ranked offense in the country in terms of efficiency, and its defense is hovering around the 100-mark.
But the offense went as cold as ice in the second half, for a multitude of reasons.
Alabama was able to take a 7-point second half lead, and with all the momentum, it felt like it had a chance to get the crowd behind it and start to pull away, but the shots stopped falling.
Over a 10-minute stretch, from the 14-minute mark to under the 4-minute mark, Alabama made just one field goal. It finished the game making just two of its final 13 shots from the floor.
It started with some open looks just not dropping, but as the misses started to pile up, so did the overwhelming sense of urgency. It caused Alabama to rush offensively, taking ill-advised shots and forcing itself into turnovers as Tennessee climbed back into the game and took the lead.
Alabama finished the game just 38 percent from the floor, and made just nine of its 37 attempts from beyond the arc. That 24 percent mark from beyond the arc was its worst in a home game all season.
"We made two of our last 13 field goals. We've got to make better decisions down the stretch," head coach Nate Oats said. "When you get a 7 point lead against a good team you can't take possessions for granted. I thought we threw too many possessions away on the offensive end."
It certainly wasn't the way you would expect Alabama to lose a game of this magnitude, but sometimes that's how basketball goes.
2. Improved defense limited Knecht, but not everyone.
Like I mentioned in the first point, Alabama's defense was actually pretty solid. It kept Tennessee, a much better offensive team than Tennessee teams in the past, at bay for much of the game, holding the Volunteers to 36 percent from the floor and 30 percent from beyond the arc.
"We played a lot harder on D," Oats said. "We had them at a 1.15 [points per possession]. Knecht was the leading scorer in the league, we did a pretty good job on him, I thought."
Tennessee's Dalton Knecht, the top scorer in the SEC and one of the best players in all of college basketball, was actually held in check for most of the night.
He hit a few tough shots down the stretch, which is to be expected from a player of his caliber, but he only scored 13 points on 5-of-14 shooting from the floor.
It was Tennessee's other players that made a huge difference on offense for them. Big man Jonas Aidoo scored 10 second half points, while point guard Zakai Ziegler was inefficient from the field but still hit multiple huge threes in the second half en route to his 18 points.
"I thought we showed we could guard, just had some loose balls and defensive rebounds that we didn't come up with late," Oats said.
Obviously it didn't result in a win, but the improved defensive performance is something Oats can build on as the end of the season approaches.
3. So, what now?
Speaking of the end of the season, where does Alabama go from here?
This game was hyped up to be the de-facto SEC regular season championship game, and Alabama came out on the wrong side of it. But it wasn't quite a championship game, as there's still two games left in the regular season.
Mark Sears after the game said the locker room message was clear:
"The season's not over. We still have something to play for," Sears said.
In fact, Alabama still has a chance to split the SEC regular season title if the chips fall their way. The Crimson Tide has to win out, beating Florida on the road and Arkansas at home, and it needs Tennessee to drop one of its remaining two against South Carolina on the road and Kentucky at home.
It's not the most outlandish scenario ever, but it's out of Alabama's control. And that's the part where Nate Oats wants to see a response from his team.
Florida narrowly lost to Alabama in the first meeting, taking the Crimson Tide to overtime inside Coleman Coliseum just two weeks ago. They're going to be hungry, and it's a quick turnaround after a heartbreaking loss.
"We'll see how mature our guys are. What we can control now is our effort on Tuesday and our effort on Saturday," Oats said. "We've got to take care of our business."
It's a big maturity test, but a win on Tuesday over Florida could be huge for the team's confidence as tournament season approaches.
Oats puts a lot of emphasis on winning the regular season conference championship, which is a notable feat, but the SEC Tournament, and more importantly, the NCAA Tournament, are still on the docket. Alabama needs a bounce-back win to avoid a slide, and it would instill some major confidence ahead of the postseason.
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