TUSCALOOSA, Ala. — Alabama basketball will begin the week with sole possession of first place in the SEC standings. However, if it wants to stay there for the next two months, its head coach believes it will take a much better defensive showing moving forward.

Following Saturday night’s 109-88 victory over LSU, Alabama (14-6, 6-1 in the SEC) holds a half-game lead over No. 5 Tennessee (15-4, 5-1) in the conference standings. The Crimson Tide's ascension into first place comes after it handed Auburn its first SEC loss earlier in the week. The Tigers (16-4, 5-2) then dropped a second straight game at Mississippi State on Saturday night, allowing the Tide to sit alone atop the standings. Tennessee beat Vanderbilt on Saturday to keep pace with the Tide, but has played one less conference win with a game in hand.

Alabama still has 11 SEC games remaining, including trips to Auburn and Kentucky as well as a home matchup against Tennessee. Still, after recording its sixth 100-point performance of the season and eighth win in nine outings, it's hard not to think about the Tide as potential SEC title winners.

That could be the case, but Nate Oats isn’t exactly seeing things through crimson-colored glasses just yet.

“I do think this is a team that can win it, and we’re going after it as hard as we can,” Oats said. “But if we don’t fix our defense and get the main guys in the rotation playing heavy minutes to be as concerned with the defense as the offense, it’s going to be really hard to win.”

Alabama’s 109 points against LSU were the second-most it has scored in an SEC game during Oats’ tenure. However, the Tide allowed the Tigers to score 12 points over their season average while knocking down 11 of 28 shots (39.2%) from beyond the arc. That soured Alabama’s 21-point win for Oats.

“We’re not locked into what the game plan is enough,” Oats said. “We had way to much help off shooters where we didn’t need help. I could go things. We have a really talented offensive group. We’re not going to be able to win the championship if guys are not focused and it’s not important to them.”

According to KenPom, Alabama leads the nation in adjusted offensive efficiency, averaging 125.3 points per 100 possessions. On the flip side, the Tide ranks No. 66 in defensive efficiency, allowing opponents to average 100.2 points per 100 possessions.

Alabama’s defensive woes won’t matter as much if it can shoot like it did Saturday night. The Crimson Tide finished 35 of 63 (55.5%) from the floor and 14 of 34 (41.2%) from deep against LSU. However, that’s not a sustainable percentage against some of the SEC’s top teams.

“We do get Tennessee at our place, but if we don’t guard better we’re not going to be them,” Oats said. “We got Auburn yet. If we don’t guard better, we’re not going to win a road game at Auburn. … We’ve got to play at Kentucky. If you guard down there, their offense is high-powered. They’re playing really well on the offensive end, for the most part.”

Alabama won the SEC regular season and conference titles last season with the nation’s third-best defense, holding opponents to 88.3 points per 100 possessions. The Tide has a long way to go if it wants to get anywhere close to that number. However, there are worse things than entering the final two months of the regular season with your destiny completely in your control.

“If our defense gets to where we need it to get, we’ll win a championship,” Oats said. “If not, it’s going to be hard-pressed to do it.”