Alabama basketball has had a few days to process its 117-95 loss at Kentucky over the weekend. That hasn’t made the blowout defeat any easier to stomach.

“I think they were embarrassed. It’s hard not to [be] after giving up 117,” Alabama head coach Nate Oats said during his Tuesday press conference. “I’m embarrassed that the team I coach was that poor defensively.”

The loss only dropped Alabama one spot to No. 14 in the Associated Press top 25. However, it cost the Crimson Tide its claim of sole possession of first place in the SEC standings.

Alabama doesn’t have much time to lick its wounds either as it will travel to Ole Miss for an 8 p.m. CT tipoff on Wednesday. The Rebels are looking to shake off a lopsided defeat of their own as they suffered a 72-59 home loss to South Carolina over the weekend. That served as Ole Miss’ fifth defeat in the past six games.

With both teams needing to make a response, here’s a look at everything you need to know for Wednesday night’s matchup.

Who: No. 14 Alabama (19-8, 11-3) at Ole Miss (19-8, 6-8)

When: 8 p.m. CT, Wednesday, Feb., 28

Where: The Sandy and John Black Pavilion at Ole Miss, Oxford, Mississippi

Watch: ESPN2 (Play-By-Play: Kevin Fitzgerald, Analyst: Dane Bradshaw, Sideline Reporter: Alyssa Lang)

Listen: Crimson Tide Sports Network | SIRIUS/XM 134/201 (Play-By-Play: Chris Stewart, Analyst: Bryan Passink, Engineer: Tom Stipe)

Mark Sears: 6-foot-1, 185 pounds, junior

Stats: 20.4 ppg, 4.3 rpg, 4.1 apg, 50.9% FG, 44.7% 3-pt

Aaron Estrada: 6-foot-3, 190 pounds, graduate

Stats: 13.1 ppg, 5.1 rpg, 4.3 apg, 45.5% FG, 33.6% 3-pt

Latrell Wrightsell Jr: 6-foot-3, 190 pounds, senior

Stats: 9.0 ppg, 3.2 rpg, 1.5 apg, 42.4% FG, 44.5% 3-pt

Rylan Griffen: 6-foot-6, 190 pounds, sophomore

Stats: 11.5 ppg, 3.6 rpg, 1.9 apg, 46.8% FG, 38.8% 3-pt

Grant Nelson: 6-foot-11, 230 pounds, senior

Stats: 12.3 ppg, 5.7 rpg, 1.7 apg, 49.3% FG, 27.3% 3-pt

Jaylen Murray: 5-foot-11,170 pounds, junior

Stats: 13.6 ppg, 2.4 rpg, 4.1 apg, 42.0% FG, 40.1% 3-pt

Matthew Murrell: 6-foot-4, 200 pounds, senior

Stats: 17.1 ppg, 3.8 rpg, 2.3 apg, 47.2% FG, 40.1% 3-pt

Allen Flanigan: 6-foot-6, 215 pounds, senior

Stats: 15.2 ppg, 6.5 rpg, 2.9 apg, 43.4% FG, 27.9% 3-pt

Jaemyn Brakefield: 6-foot-8, 220 pounds, senior

Stats: 11.9 ppg, 4.9 rpg, 2.4 apg, 46.5% FG, 36.7% 3-pt

Moussa Cisse: 7-foot, 230 pounds, senior

Stats: 4.7 ppg, 4.6 rpg, 0.3 apg, 55.0% FG

There’s no way to sugarcoat it, Alabama’s defense was horrendous against Kentucky. The Crimson Tide allowed the Wildcats to shoot 63.1% from the floor and 54.2% from beyond the arc while racking up 1.54 points per possession. That said, the Tide didn’t do itself any favors when it had the ball either.

Alabama turned the ball over 16 times against Kentucky, leading to 29 points on the other end. The majority of those giveaways came off of the Wildcats’ 11 steals in the game. That’s a concerning stat heading into Wednesday, as Ole Miss ranks second in the SEC and No. 46 overall averaging 8.22 steals per game. The Rebels have three of the SEC’s top 12 steals leaders in guards Matthew Murrell (1.7 spg), Allen Flanigan (1.6 spg) and Jaylen Murray (1.4 spg).

Tuesday, Oats credited first-year Ole Miss coach Chris Beard, stating his teams have always been some of the hardest-working teams in the nation.

“Their system has been able to turn people over every year he’s been in college basketball,” Oats said. “It’s definitely concerning because we’ve had some issues with turnovers. As bad as our defense was against Kentucky, our turnovers might have been even worse. That got their transition offense going, and it really hurt our offense, too.”

The other thing Ole Miss does well is defend the rim. The Rebels are tied with Kentucky for fifth nationally, averaging 6.0 blocker per game. Jamarion Sharp leads the way as the 7-foot-5 center tops the SEC and ranks 10th nationally averaging 2.38 blocks per game. Meanwhile, 7-foot center Mousa Cisse is averaging a respectable 1.5 blocks.

Alabama allowed Kentucky to block seven shots over the weekend and will need to be more selective in its drives to the rim Wednesday.

“I told our guys, a blocked shot at the rim is almost as bad as a turnover,” Oats said. “It invites the break the other way. … When we do get to the rim and there’s shot blockers in front of us, we’ve got to make better rim decisions. The play is not just to shoot with a 7-5 guy in front of you. We’ve got to find the open man. We’ve got to get to two feet. We’ve got to find cutters. We’ve got to be smarter with our decision once we get into the paint and near the rim.”

As poor as Alabama looked over the weekend, history says the Tide is due for a much better performance Wednesday night. Alabama has not lost back-to-back SEC games in the regular season since March of 2022 when it fell to Texas A&M and LSU to begin a four-game skid that saw the Tide bounced out in its first game of both the SEC Tournament and NCAA Tournament.

Since then back-to-back losses have been a rarity for Oat’s bunch. Alabama didn’t drop consecutive games all of last season. Outside of a three-game losing streak to top-10 competition in December, the Tide has also bounced back from defeats this season as well.

Tuesday, Oats spoke highly of his team’s resiliency, stating that veteran players have led by example through their effort this week.

“I think guys have some pride,” Oats said. “You know, you take a loss and we’re definitely not coming back and playing bad back-to-back. It’s going to be hard to get this win on the road, but I think our guys are going to play extremely hard to try to get the win.”

— Alabama has not lost back-to-back SEC games in the regular season since March of 2022 when it dropped consecutive games to Texas A&M and LSU.

— The Crimson Tide is one win away from back-to-back 20-win seasons for the first time since the 2012-2013 season.

— Alabama has scored 80 points against conference opponents in eight straight games. That’s the third-longest streak in the SEC

over the last 30 seasons. Kentucky had a streak of 10 games from 1995-96 and a streak of nine games from 2016-17.

— Ole Miss’ Chris Beard ranks 12th among active head coaches with 10 or more years of experience at 70.7.