Alabama basketball's road momentum in SEC play came to a screeding halt Wednesday night. No. 15 Missouri was one step ahead of No. 4 Alabama for the entirety of its 110-98 victory over the Crimson Tide. Alabama looked flustered and failed to control key areas where Mizzou has exploited teams all season.

The Tide slipped up in the turnover department and buried itself in the first two minutes, surrendering a 12-0 kill shot run that it couldn't recover from. Alabama was exposed defensively by the Tigers' quick and physical attack. The Tide never quit on the offensive end, showing its usual grit on the road. But its runs just weren't enough to overcome a determined and free-scoring Mizzou squad, culminating in Alabama's second loss in a row and the Tigers reaching the century mark against a team used to doing that to its opponents.

Here are three takeaways from Alabama's matchup against Missouri.

Before the game, Coach Nate Oats told Crimson Tide Sports Network that Alabama was going to switch its rotations after struggles against Auburn. Alabama did rotate its starting five, with Labaron Philon being re-inserted into the lineup for Jarin Stevenson, giving Alabama a three-guard look with Philon alongside Mark Sears and Chirs Youngblood. Clifford Omoruyi and Grant Nelson took up their usual forward positions.

Whatever spark Oats was hoping the group would have turned into a flicker immediately. For the first time on the road in SEC play, Alabama looked completely shell-shocked as the Tigers got out to a 12-0 advantage. Missouri vaporized Alabama on both ends of the floor, prompting Oats to call a timeout less than three minutes into the game.

Normally, Alabama’s first rotations can quickly make it a game after a slow start. But that spark was unable to be found Wednesday night. Alabama was able to calm things down and its offense was able to click into gear. Philon and Sears looked strong sharing a backcourt with the freshman scoring 14 points in his return to the starting lineup.

However, the Tigers' explosive start meant the Tide required a major run that it wasn’t able to fix due to its struggles in other key areas. Omouryi and Nelson were unable to get anything going offensively, combining for just 11 points and four rebounds.

Alabama got a response from its best player after he was held to just 4 of 17 shooting against Auburn. Sears cut apart Missouri’s defense, finishing with a season-high 35 points, his first 30-plus point performance of the season. Sears quickly worked his way into the game after a slow start. He was efficient driving to the lane and shot 12 of 20 from the field, 5 of 11 from 3 and 6 of 7 at the free throw line.

Sears' play boosted Alabama’s offense, which averaged over 1.2 points per possession in both halves and outscored Mizzou 52-51 in the final 20 minutes. Alabama also had just four turnovers in the second half.

Oats called Alabama’s turnovers a “major issue” heading into the game given how well Missouri forces and capitalizes off giveaways. While Alabama cleaned things up offensively in the second half, the adjustments came much too late as the Tide played right into Missouri’s hands in the opening 20 minutes.

Missouri won the pervertible line of scrimmage, blitzing Alabama well beyond the 3-point line and preventing it from easily breaking through its first layer of defense. Alabama struggled to move the ball and instead coughed it up 10 times in the first half, leading to 15 Missouri points. Alabama finished the night with 14 giveaways that led to 21 points which made the difference in the game.

The giveaways completely negated what was an otherwise strong shooting performance from Alabama. When Missouri forced longer halfcourt possessions, the Tide didn’t panic, hitting late shot clock 3s and finishing 53.8% from the field and 41.9% from deep. The Tide doubled its assist tally from eight against Auburn to 16 vs. Mizzou.

That shooting and ball movement helped Alabama cut it to a six-point game in the second period. Sears kept scoring, kept chipping away offensively, cutting it back to six with 55 seconds left. But Alabama’s fourth turnover of the final period was a backbreaker, leading to two made free throws for Tamar Bates to make it a 10-point game and seal a Mizzou victory.

If Alabama was getting a response, it was not coming on the defensive end. The Tide simply had no answers as Missouri scored its second-highest tally in the first half this season with 59 points. The only team it scored more points against in the first half was Mississippi Valley State, a team ranked dead last in defensive rating according to KenPom.com.

Alabama’s defensive communication was lost on the road. Missouri had excellent ball and player movement and was more than willing to match the Tide’s tempo. The Tide didn’t do nearly enough to run Mizzou’s shooters off the line. Missouri’s Caleb Grill and Anthony Robinson both buried wide-open triples in the first half as the Tigers got off to a 6 of 8 start from deep. Grill, who was picked out by Oats as a player Alabama had to stop finished with 25 points off the bench.

When it wasn’t 3-point shooters moving off-ball to get open, it was Mark Mitchell sneaking behind ball-screens for easy dunks. He had two jams on consecutive possessions in the first half and exposed every Tide player he went against to finish with a career-high 31 points.

Missouri outscored Alabama 40-38 in the paint and lived in at the free-throw line, another area Oats said Alabama had its limit Mizzou in. The Tigers entered the double bonus with 13 minutes left in the second half and attempted 47 free throws to Alabama's 21. When Alabama cut Mizzou's lead to 11 with five minutes left, Grill drew a foul on a 3-pointer, which summed up Alabama’s inability to keep the Tigers off the line.

Alabama couldn’t get the stops it needed for a response against one of the more balanced teams in the SEC. The Tigers averaged 1.44 points per possession for the game and 1.45 in the second half. Alabama yet again had no answer for an opponent's best players. Mitchell and Grill combined for 56 of Mizzou’s 110 points.

Alabama (21-5, 10-3 SEC) will return to Tuscaloosa for a matchup against No. 17 Kentucky. The two sides faced off earlier this season on Jan. 18 inside Rupp Arena, with the Tide coming out on top 102-97. The rematch is set for 5 p.m. CT Saturday inside Coleman Coliseum. The game will be televised on ESPN.