How Alabama fared against NBA first-round picks last season

Unlike recent years, Alabama basketball had a quiet night Wednesday, as the first round of the NBA draft came and went without any Crimson Tide players selected.

That didn’t come as a surprise. Alabama convinced draft hopefuls Mark Sears, Grant Nelson and Jarin Stevenson to return to college for another season. That trio will try their luck next year and could be joined by a few of the Tide’s offseason additions.

This year was a break from the norm, as Alabama has produced five first-round picks over the previous six drafts. However, Wednesday’s first round featured several familiar names for the Crimson Tide.

During its run to the Final Four last season, Alabama faced off against seven future first-round picks. That included five of the first nine players selected in this year’s draft.

Here’s how Alabama fared against the first-round picks it faced.

Game: Kentucky 117, Alabama 95 (Feb. 24 in Lexington, Ky.)

Stats: 32 minutes, 3 of 6 shooting (2 of 3 from 3), 8 points, 6 rebounds, 6 assists, 4 steals, 3 turnovers

Despite coming off the bench, Sheppard led Kentucky with 32 minutes during its February romp over Alabama. The freshman guard made an early impact, assisting on a pair of 3s in the first four minutes. His first basket came on a 3 of his own to give the Wildcats a 23-22 lead with 12:06 left in the first half.

Sheppard provided most of his offensive damage after Kentucky built up a big second-half lead. However, his four steals and rebounding on the defensive end helped the Wildcats establish that advantage.

Game: UConn 86, Alabama 72 (April 6 in Glendale, Ariz.)

Stats: 30 minutes, 7 of 13 shooting (2 of 6 from 3), 21 points, 5 rebounds, 2 assists, 1 steals, 1 turnovers

Castle entered his Final Four matchup against Alabama shooting 26.2% from beyond the arc with just 17 made 3s. However, he hit twice from deep in the game's opening three minutes. The five-star point guard didn’t make another 3 for the rest of the game but worked hard on and off the ball to carve up Alabama’s defense while taking advantage of the Tide shading toward the Huskies' other scorers.

With the game tied at 56 midway through the second half, Castle scored four straight points to help spur an 8-0 UConn run that led to the Huskies pulling away.

Game: UConn 86, Alabama 72 (April 6 in Glendale, Ariz.)

Stats: 29 minutes, 8 of 14 shooting, 18 points, 5 rebounds, 1 assists, 4 blocks

Nelson’s thunderous dunk over Clingan was one of the biggest highlights of Alabama’s Final Four run. However, the UConn big man gave the Tide all it could handle down low. Clingan dominated Alabama on defense, coming up with four blocks. That played a key role in the Tide managing just 26 points in the paint.

Game: Kentucky 117, Alabama 95 (Feb. 24 in Lexington, Ky.)

Stats: 25 minutes, 5 of 9 shooting (3 of 5 from 3), 16 points, 2 rebounds, 4 assists, 1 steal, 1 turnover

Like Sheppard, Dillingham did his damage off the bench against Alabama. The five-star guard scored 6 of his points in the first 10 minutes as the Tide and Wildcats were battling back and forth. He then stuffed his stat sheet during Kentucky’s second-half onslaught, hitting back-to-back 3s to give the ’Cats a 92-59 lead with 11:05 remaining.

Game: Purdue 92, Alabama 86 (Dec. 9 in Toronto)

Stats: 37 minutes, 12 of 20 shooting, 35 points, 7 rebounds, 2 assists, 2 turnovers.

No one truly slowed Zach Edey down on his way to winning his second straight Naismith Player of the Year award. However, Alabama did a decent job stifling some aspects of his game. Edey scored 35 points against the Tide but was held to just seven rebounds, tied for his second-lowest total of the season. Alabama is also one of two opponents the 7-foot-4 big man failed to record a block against with Michigan serving as the other.

Still, Edey played a big role in helping Purdue outlast Alabama. His ability to draw whistles forced the Tide into foul trouble. He also went 11-for-11 at the free-throw line.

Game 1: Tennessee 91, Alabama 71 (Jan. 20 in Knoxville, Tenn)

Game 2: Tennessee 81, Alabama 74 (March 2 in Tuscaloosa, Ala.)

Game 1 stats: 36 minutes, 8 of 20 shooting (1 of 6 from 3), 25 points, 4 rebounds, 2 assists, 1 block, 1 turnover

Game 2 stats: 28 minutes, 5 of 14 shooting (1 of 7 from 3) 13 points, 5 rebounds, 1 assist, 2 turnovers

Alabama did relatively well in its two meetings against the SEC Player of the Year. Dalton Knecht scored 25 points in his first matchup against the Tide but did so on inefficient 8 of 20 shooting, including 1 of 6 from the floor. Alabama limited him even more in its second meeting, as his 13 points that game served as his lowest-scoring output in conference play.

Still, Knecht came away with wins in both meetings. He scored 17 first-half points to help bury Alabama early in his first game against the Tide in Knoxville. While the Tide shut him down in Tuscaloosa, it didn’t do a good job of slowing down his supporting cast.

Game: Creighton 85, Alabama 82 (Dec. 16 in Omaha, Neb.)

Stats: 38 minutes, 5 of 13 shooting (2 of 7 from 3), 20 points, 6 rebounds, 9 assists,1 steal, 3 turnovers.

The story of Alabama’s loss at Creighton was Blujays’ center Ryan Kalkbrenner’s big second-half performance. However, Baylor Scheierman played an equally big role in Creighton outlasting the Tide. With Alabama focused on Kalkbrenner, Scheierman took advantage of holes in the Tide’s defense, providing a game-high nine assists while also getting to the line where he converted on 8 of 9 free-throw attempts.

Scheierman found Kalkbrenner on a lob to give Creighton a 68-66 lead with 6:56 remaining. Roughly a minute later, he buried a 3 to extend the Bluejays’ lead to six points. After Mark Sears hit a 3 to cut Creighton’s lead in half, Scheierman recorded a steal on Aaron Estrada before assisting Trey Alexander on a layup to regain momentum for the Bluejays.