TUSCALOOSA, Ala. — The crowd inside Coleman Coliseum was on edge, practically begging for a reason to erupt.
Trailing by four with 12 minutes to play on a night when nothing was going right, No. 4 Alabama was presented with a rare break. Following one of the Tide’s 21 turnovers on the night, No. 21 Ole Miss gave the home supporters new life, as Rebels forward Jaemyn Brakefield was whistled for a technical foul, giving Alabama two free throws and another possession.
Mark Sears stepped to the line, sinking both of his free throws to bring Alabama within two. Three seconds later, Brakefield was whistled again for a foul on Grant Nelson, sending the graduate forward to the line for a chance to tie.
Clank.
Nelson, a normally decent free-throw shooter, missed his first attempt, drawing a sigh from the crowd. From there, the forward regathered himself for another try.
Clank again.
Nelson’s second attempt also bounced off the rim, dampening the mood inside Coleman Coliseum even more. Less than a minute later, Ole Miss guard Sean Pedula sent a standing crowd back to its seats, hitting a 3 to extend the Rebels lead back to five and snuff out any momentum the Tide had built up.
On paper, Nelson’s two misses weren’t the reason why Alabama suffered its first SEC loss in a 74-64 defeat to Ole Miss on Tuesday. The forward’s misfires contributed to a 19 of 26 night from the line for the Tide. Technically, a perfect performance wouldn’t have been enough to tip the scales. Still, Alabama’s unreliability at the line sure didn’t help the cause.
“I told our guys, we missed seven of them. That didn’t lose us the game,” head coach Nate Oats said. “But I’ve been telling them, if we don’t fix it, it is going to lose us the game.”
It’s hard to tell how far momentum would have carried the Tide had Nelson connected on his free throws. That hypothetical won’t change the record book anyway. However, Alabama’s struggles from the line are concerning.
After shooting 78.4% from the charity stripe last year, the Tide is down to just 69.9% this season.
Alabama is without its best free-throw shooter as Latrell Wrightsell Jr. ruptured his Achilles in November. The Tide also lost reliable foul shooters from last year in Aaron Estrada, Sam Walters and Rylan Griffin during the offseason.
Still, Alabama’s recent epidemic has now seeped into its reliable returners. Nelson shot 81.3% from the line last season but is converting just 62.8% of his free throws this year. That includes a 3 of 7 performance Tuesday night against Ole Miss.
“We got a lot of faith in him,” Alabama guard Aden Holloway said of Nelson. “Great player, great free-throw shooter. Just keep working, keep going to the gym every day and keep shooting.”
Oats believes much of Alabama’s free-throw woes are mental. However, he doesn’t view that as too much of an excuse.
“Free throws are the one thing in the game of basketball that has no variables other than the variables you put in your own head,” Oats said. “And if you want to have confidence, you’ve got to earn confidence. You can’t talk yourself into being confident. You earn the confidence by putting up hundreds, and if you need to, thousands [of shots].
“And shooting a free throw doesn’t put wear and tear on your body. Even on an off day when you’re supposed to be recovering, you can come in and shoot hundreds of free throws.”
Oats said there has been an extra emphasis on free-throw shooting, stating that his staff has been charting it more during games and practices. You can bet Nelson and the rest of the Tide will be working from the line plenty before Alabama’s trip to No. 8 Kentucky on Saturday.
Chances are, they’ll need to make a few big free throws to swing momentum and silence a hostile crowd inside Rupp Arena.
