The first No. 1 vs. No. 2 matchup in SEC history, the first Iron Bowl of basketball in 2025 and No. 2 Alabama's chance to assert themselves as the nation’s top team ended with a classic Alabama celebration, the "Crimson Crane." The only issue? The players using the celebration were wearing white, navy blue and orange.
Auburn walked into Coleman Coliseum just a week removed from losing to top-10-ranked Florida on their home court and, from the tip, ran Alabama out of the gym. Auburn finished with five players hitting double figures, with Johni Broome leading the way with 19 points, eight of which came in the game's first three minutes.
The Crimson Tide made multiple valiant efforts but dropped their first game in their last eight contests, losing 94-85.
Before we move on to Wednesday night's matchup between Alabama and No. 21 Missouri, here are five key numbers that defined the Tide’s loss to the Tigers.
19.2 — Alabama shot a season-low 19.2% from 3-point range against Auburn, with three of those makes coming in a span of three minutes in the second half.
Mark Sears finished 2-for-11 from deep, his second-worst career performance behind his 1-for-11 showing against Oregon earlier this season.
Alabama head coach Nate Oats kept it simple when commenting on the shooting misfortunes.
“They did a great job.” Oats said. “I thought on their defensive end, trying to take away our threes. We didn't shoot it very well, but they contested them.”
3 — Alabama shot 3-for-12 when trailing by three points or less against Auburn and just 1-for-5 from 3-point range.
Nate Oats praised Auburn when asked about Alabama’s struggles in the clutch.
“Maybe give some credit to Auburn,” Oats said. “When it was a tight game, they were playing hard for the tough shots. They’re a good defensive team. They put together a good game plan. There’s a tight game; we’ve got to do a better job of finding better shots.”
The Crimson Tide delivered a "Kill Shot" run in the second half, eventually tying the game at 65-65 and then 68-68 with just over seven minutes remaining. The Tigers responded with a 7-0 run after Alabama missed two shots, trying to keep the game within reach.
9 — Despite being at the charity stripe for 35 free throws, three more chances than Auburn, Alabama missed nine total, the same number of points they lost by.
“We didn’t convert at the free-throw line as well as their guards did,” Oats said. “You look at their guards; they were 19-of-21 at the line. We only had two guys that were forwards go 100 percent at the line.”
Grant Nelson (2-for-2) and Derrion Reid (4-for-4) were Alabama’s only players to shoot 100% from the free-throw line. Labaron Philon, Aden Holloway, Chris Youngblood and Clifford Omoruyi each missed one, while Mo Dioubate missed two and Mark Sears missed three.
The Crimson Tide have has had an up-and-down free-throw shooting season, posting percentages as low as 51.4% against Kent State in December to 90% in their last game on the road against Texas. Alabama has shot over 70% from the free-throw line in four of nine games this season when attempting at least 30 free throws.
39 —Auburn led for 39 of the 40 minutes, never allowing Alabama to take the lead. The Tigers won the tip and immediately opened the game with a 3-pointer, holding the lead for the entire first half. The Crimson Tide tied the game with around seven minutes left, fueled by a 10-0 run, but Auburn responded quickly, closing Alabama out after the eight-minute media timeout.
2 — Alabama was plus-2 with Mo Dioubate on the floor, the highest +/- of any Alabama player. Dioubate, who leads the team in hard hats this season and is considered Alabama’s glue guy, finished with eight points, seven rebounds, one assist and two blocks in 21 minutes. The sophomore was inserted into the lineup early in place of Cliff Omoruyi and was tasked with guarding Auburn’s Johni Broome at times throughout the night.
