Nate Oats has been calling for better defense since the start of the season. Friday night, No. 17 Alabama basketball’s defensive woes led to its first loss of the season as it fell 92-81 to Ohio State Friday night in the Emerald Coast Classic.

Alabama (4-1) shot a respectable 46% from the floor, but did little to stop Ohio State (4-1), as the Buckeyes shot 54%, including 10 of 18 from beyond the arc.

With the loss, Alabama will play Saturday at 3 p.m. CT against the loser of Friday night’s game between Santa Clara and Oregon.

Here are three points from Alabama's first defeat of the season.

Alabama fans who couldn’t figure out the CBS Sports app weren’t able to tune into Friday night’s game until 1:31 remaining in the first half. They were spared a frustrating showing on the boards as the Crimson Tide was outrebounded 17-8 before the break.

"The glass has been a disaster," Oats told Crimson Tide Sports Network at halftime.

He wasn’t kidding.

Alabama center Nick Pringle came away with three boards before the break, while freshman forward Jarin Steven had a pair off the bench. Other than that, no other Crimson Tide player came away with more than one rebound. That included North Dakota State transfer Grant Nelson, who didn’t come away with a board in the first half. Nelson came away with six rebounds after the break, but at that point, Alabama was already in a hole.

"Grant [Nelson] didn't have a rebound in the first half," Oats said. "He comes in — two games now where he hasn't really rebounded well in the first half — then comes in and rebounds great in the second half. We need that out of him for 40 minutes, not just 20."

Alabama and Ohio State tied the battle on the boards in the second half, both coming away with 15 rebounds. Along with outrebounding the Crimson Tide 32-24 on the night, the Buckeyes also had a 13-8 advantage in second-chance points.

Alabama came into the game as the nation’s best 3-point shooting team, making 48.9% of his shots from beyond the arc. However, it was Ohio State that lit it up from deep Friday night.

The Buckeyes matched their season high with 10 made 3s, making 55.5% of their shots from deep. Not bad for a team that came into the game shooting 34.9 from beyond the arc. Ohio State was led by sophomore guard Bruce Thornton who scored a career-high 29 points while shooting 4 of 6 from deep. Before Friday’s loss, Alabama had held opponents to 27.2% from 3.

While Ohio State heated up, the Crimson Tide saw its shooting stroke go cold. Alabama made just 9 of 30 shots from beyond the arc for a season-low 30% night.

"We got some work to do on the defensive end," Oats said. "I think we've got too many guys worried about their offense right now and not their defense."

Ohio State made just two field goals over the game’s last eight minutes. It didn’t matter though as Alabama couldn’t stop fouling the Buckeyes.

The Crimson Tide allowed Ohio State to get to the line 25 times in the second half. The Buckeyes made them pay, hitting 23 of those free-throw attempts, including 20 in the final 8:10. Ohio State shot 28 of 30 from the charity stripe on the night.

Alabama also did a good job of getting to the line, making 20 of 26 free throws. However, the Tide couldn’t capitalize with stops on the defensive end.