TUSCALOOSA, Ala. — These are trying times for Alabama basketball. The Crimson Tide (14-12, 6-7 in the SEC) has dropped five of its last seven games, including three of its last four inside Coleman Coliseum. Following its most recent loss, Alabama finds itself at No. 45 in the NET rankings and was listed as one of the “Next Four Out” of ESPN analyst Joe Lunardi’s projected NCAA Tournament bracket.

Alabama has five regular-season games remaining to right the ship, starting with Saturday’s game against Ole Miss at 7:30 p.m. CT in Oxford, Miss. Heading into the must-win matchup, Crimson Tide head coach Nate Oats addressed his team’s recent struggles. Here are three areas Alabama could improve on moving forward.

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Whistles during Alabama games have been a bit one-sided. During its recent loss to Texas A&M, the Crimson Tide got to the line just nine times while the Aggies shot 27 free throws. That disparity has become a disturbing trend for Alabama, especially in its last three defeats where opponents have attempted almost three times as many free-throws (98-33).

Even more concerning for the Crimson Tide is that two of those three losses — Tennessee and Texas A&M — have come inside Coleman Coliseum. While the hometown crowd can grumble and groan over a lack of calls against Alabama, a lot of the problem can be attributed to the Crimson Tide’s reluctance to drive to the lane and draw fouls. While Oats’ spread-out attack encourages his players to take open 3s, the head coach said he’d like to see more aggression from his team moving forward.

“It starts with A, getting Kira (Lewis Jr.) back to being more aggressive,” Oats said. “When he’s aggressive, scoring 37 or getting a triple-double, we’re a lot better. B, you’ve got to get some other guys who can handle it a little bit, too. I mean with the way A&M played, they kind of played that kind of trapping little bit where the ball had to get out of Kira’s hand. You’ve got to get some other playmakers in spots where they can drive the ball in and make a play. That’s why we want more than one guy who can pass, dribble and shoot out there. We’ve got to get Shack (Jaden Shackelford) and JP (John Petty Jr.) and other guys making plays, too.”

Alabama’s inability to get to the line has only been highlighted by its struggles to shoot from deep late in games.

The Crimson Tide leads the SEC in 3-point percentage, making 35.2 percent of its shots from beyond the arc. However, over the past six games, that average has dropped dramatically under the five-minute mark of regulation and overtime where Alabama is shooting just 28.2 percent from 3.

During its 74-68 loss to Texas A&M, Alabama shot just 2 of 8 from deep over the final five minutes, including four straight misses from beyond the arc as the Aggies went on a 12-0 run to take control of the game.

Jaden Shackelford, who shot 6 of 15 (40 percent) from deep on the night, missed his final three 3-point attempts in the last five minutes. Meanwhile, Kira Lewis Jr., who shot 4 of 10 (40 percent) from 3 against the Aggies, also missed back-to-back 3s in the game’s final minutes.

Friday, Oats was asked if the dip in late-game performance was due more to fatigue or nerves.

“My guess is some of it may be fatigue because we’ve got such a short rotation in the backcourt,” Oats said. “Now Beetle’s (James Bolden) getting healthy and starting to play well, he’s going to help that hopefully. Playing (Jaylen) Forbes more minutes will help that. We’ve obviously got to find a way to get Kira off the floor a few more minutes to keep him fresh late.

“I hope it’s not nerves. I think we’ve got big shot makers. I’ve seen Reese make a bunch of big shots. I’ve seen Shack make big shots. I’ve seen Petty send it to overtime a few times this year. Kira’s made big shots. I think our guys have got the wherewithal to hit big shots.”

Alabama’s offensive struggles late against Texas A&M carried into the defensive end of the court as the Crimson Tide allowed the Aggies to make their final five shots of the game, three of which came on layups. Alabama also started the game with a similar defensive lapse as Texas A&M made four of its first five shots to build an early 11-3 advantage.

“Our defensive side of the ball came down to more of an effort thing,” Oats said. “That’s on the coaching staff. If they’re not giving the effort they need, you’ve got to look to see how you’re motivating them to come ready to play because we didn’t come ready to play. That first four minutes was bad, and the last four minutes was even worse.”

Alabama’s inconsistent intensity on defense has forced it into big holes in recent games. During an overtime loss at Auburn, the Crimson Tide allowed the Tigers to start the game on a 16-0 run. Conversely, Alabama squandered a 12-0 start against Arkansas, allowing the Razorbacks to go on a 9-0 run to tie the game midway through the first half. Alabama eventually suffered a costly home loss to Arkansas before blowing a 15-point lead to Tennessee during the following game in Coleman Coliseum.

Oats noted that part of Alabama’s problem has been playing without Herbert Jones who was out for the losses to Arkansas and Tennessee and limited in the defeats to Auburn and Texas A&M. However, Alabama will have to find a way to compensate for its lack of defensive depth moving forward if it wants any chance of earning an NCAA Tournament bid.

“We’ve got to somehow make them understand the importance of playing 40 minutes,” Oats said. “Part of it is learning your crew. I’ve been with them now almost a full year, but I’m still learning them, they’re learning me. I’ve got to do a better job of getting them motivated to play a little bit harder.”

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