Alabama Basketball: After a tough road loss, let’s review how the Sooners prevailed and what it means for the Tide going forward.
The Alabama Basketball streak of 10 wins was broken Saturday in Norman, OK. A good Oklahoma Sooners team got the best of the Crimson Tide in a 66-61 game. The Alabama Crimson Tide moves to 14-4. The surging Sooners go to 11-4.
The game was a battle of two well-coached teams; both fighting hard for victory. The Sooners were better enough, in a couple of key areas, to get the win.
It would be easy to point to a rash of Crimson Tide turnovers in the game’s first several minutes. Alabama Basketball made eight turnovers by the 12:40 mark in the first half. The Sooners jumped out to a nine-point lead in the game’s first four minutes. Off of five made threes, four other baskets and two free throws, the Crimson Tide battled back to take a 5-point lead at 4:16 of the first half.
The Sooners took control in the second half, pushing their lead to 12 points at 9:43. Nate Oats’ Alabama basketball team refused to fold and took a 1-point lead at 3:44 on two free throw makes by Keon Ellis. From that point, the Crimson Tide could only muster one point, as the Sooners regained the lead and pushed it out to the 5-point win.
The shooting was close to even in the game. The Sooners finished with two fewer turnovers than the Crimson Tide and two more steals; little things that matter in close games. The big difference was the offensive boards with a seven board advantage for the Sooners leading to 10 second-chance points to zero for the Crimson Tide.
Nate Oats commented on the game,
"We didn’t come out ready to play. We knew Oklahoma was good. We tried to warn our guys before the gameWe’ve been warning them for two games. This is the third game in a row that we have not played well."
There were positives for the Crimson Tide and Nate Oats was quick to point them out.
"I thought Reese played great tonight. It’s his best game he’s given us. I thought he came out with some energy when we needed it without Bruner. We just didn’t, as a group, put it together enough to beat a quality team like Oklahoma."
A still hurting Herbert Jones impacted the game’s outcome.
"Herb’s a warrior. Everybody in #Alabama knows how tough that kid is. He’ll play with anything. He’s nowhere close to being 100 percent. You saw it with some of the layups he missed at the rims. Those are dunks when he’s healthy."
Nate Oats was giving an explanation rather than looking for an excuse. His Alabama Basketball team won’t be allowed excuses either. The Crimson Tide will learn more about itself from the tough loss. In such situations, a tough loss to a good team carries more positives going forward than a blowout win.
It will be February when the Crimson Tide plays again. It is a college basketball month when little things matter. A close, road loss to the ranked Sooners is a small blemish on the Tide’s record. After an LSU visit to Tuscaloosa on Wednesday, the Crimson has eight remaining SEC games. Five of them are on the road.
Alex Reese with 15 points and Jaden Shackelford with 14, led the Crimson Tide in scoring. Keon Ellis with 11 points was the Tide’s only other double-digit scorer. The ailing Herbert Jones led the Tide in rebounding with six boards. Jones also had five assists.