A heroic late comeback wasn’t enough to undo a dismal start as No. 10 Alabama basketball suffered its first SEC defeat of the season, falling 68-65 at No. 18 Missouri on Saturday.
The Crimson Tide trailed by as many as 22 points midway through the second half but used a 21-2 run to trim the deficit to a single point with 1:11 to play.
Alabama had a chance to go ahead as Herbert Jones drove to the lane for a potential go-ahead layup with 6.5 seconds remaining. However, the senior forward was rejected by Missouri forward Mitchell Smith. Following two Missouri free throws on the other end, the Tide had a chance to tie at the buzzer, but Jaden Shackelford’s corner 3 came up short.
“First SEC loss, obviously the guys are disappointed, I’m disappointed,” Oats said. “We gave ourselves a chance there at the end to win it. I didn’t think we played like we needed to in the first half. Somehow we need to get these guys ready to go a little bit better, better starts in these Saturday morning games.
“But I give our guys a ton of credit. We were down 22 with 13 minutes to go in the game and multiple opportunities to take the lead in the last minute, minute and a half of the game. I couldn’t ask for much better effort in the last 13 minutes.”
Jones’ blocked layup was a point of contention on the court as the forward pleaded for a foul on the play. Following the game, Oats said he thought Jones was fouled while watching the play live but admitted he had yet to see a replay.
“I thought the kid landed on his back,” Oats said. “I saw it live. I thought it was a foul live. Obviously though when you’re a coach you hope all the calls go your way. Sometimes they don’t.
“I’ll say this, I wish we hadn’t put ourselves in a spot where it’s going to come down to a whistle or not getting a whistle in the last five seconds.”
In the midst of what has been a dream season, Alabama was dealt its second wake-up call in a seven-day span. Saturday’s loss comes after the Tide saw its 10-game winning streak snapped by then-No. 24 ranked Oklahoma last weekend.
Alabama (15-5, 10-1 in the SEC) is still the only SEC team with fewer than three conference losses. However, Missouri (13-3, 6-3) won its third straight game to stay within striking distance of the Tide in the SEC standings. Alabama still leads Missouri by three games with seven games remaining, but the Tigers now hold the tiebreaker in the event the two teams finish with the same conference record.
“There’s a reason why Missouri’s in second place,” Oats said. “They’re right behind us now, and we’re in a dogfight for the league title. They’ve got the tiebreaker, and we’ve got our hands full for these last seven games here.”
Friday, Alabama was projected as a No. 1 seed by ESPN analyst Joe Lunardi. After learning of the news, Oats warned against getting swept away by such projections, stating “this stuff can all go out the window in a hurry.”
Any bit of momentum Alabama took into Columbia, Mo. did just that Saturday.
After scoring the first four points of the game, Alabama slumped to another slow start, allowing Missouri to go on a 14-3 run over a three-minute span. The Tigers continued to pull away, taking advantage of a series of sloppy Tide passes while dominating Alabama in the paint.
Alabama also suffered from another poor offensive display, shooting 33 percent on the afternoon. After heading into the break down 44-28, the Tide opened the second half 2 of 13 from the floor.
Missouri shot just 3 of 20 from beyond the arc. However, that was negated by a strong performance down low as the Tigers held a 46-22 advantage in the paint.
Shackelford led Alabama with 15 points while Jahvon Quinerly and Keon Ellis chipped in 12 points apiece off the bench. John Petty Jr. rounded out the Tide's double-digit scorers with 11 points, including a game-high three 3s. Missouri was led by senior guard Dru Smith, who tallied a game-high 16 points, eight rebounds and four assists.
Alabama will remain on the road next week as it looks to rebound from the defeat against South Carolina on Tuesday at 5:30 p.m. CT.
