Alabama basketball suffered its second straight defeat on Wednesday night 110-98 on the road at Missouri. It was a complete defensive meltdown by the Crimson Tide, especially in the first half.
Alabama gave up open look after open look and was completely manhandled in the paint. The Tigers scored 40 points in the paint and connected on 9-of-23 from three. Alabama had nothing for Duke transfer Mark Mitchell, who led all scorers with 31 points. Senior sharpshooter Caleb Grill wasn't far behind with 25 points.
Slow starts have been a theme for the Crimson Tide. Credit to Nate Oats as he made a change to the starting five, inputting Labaron Philon for Jarin Stevenson in hopes of providing an offensive spark. Instead, it led to a complete meltdown on the defensive end and a goose egg on the offensive end.
Missouri scored the game's first 12 points and Alabama never really recovered. They spent the majority of the night trailing by double-digits. Alabama cut it to six points at one point in the second half but immediately surrendered a 9-0 run from there.
The loss drops the Tide to 21-5 overall and 10-3 in the SEC. It likely ends any hope Alabama had of a regular season SEC Championship.
3 Takeaways from Alabama's loss to Missouri
3. The game was shaped by these three sequences
1. The opening salvo by Missouri was overwhelming. The Tigers opened the game on a 12-0 run. Trent Pierce and Anthony Robinson II knocked down a pair of open threes to get it started and Nate Oats had to use a timeout just 2:30 into the game. The rest of the game was played 98-98.
2. Trailing 42-28 with a little over five minutes to go in the half, a five-point Missouri possession ended the Crimson Tide's hopes of cutting the lead to single digits by halftime. Labaron Philon turned it over on an underneath out-of-bounds play, Mark Sears committed a flagrant intentional foul to stop the fastbreak, and an exasperated Oats shattered his clipboard on the court and earned a technical. Not out of anger with the refs, but anger with his team. The Tigers hit 3-of-4 free throws and then scored a bucket for a five-point possession that stretched the lead to 19 points.
3. Sears caught fire in the second half and drained a 30-footer from three with 9:51 to play that got Alabama within six at 79-73. Following a timeout from Mizzou's Dennis Gates, the Crimson Tide got the defensive stop it needed with a miss by Mark Mitchell, but the rebound went through Jarin Stevenson's hands and Missouri got a put back. Philon and Sears both missed threes and the Tigers ended up on a 9-0 run that pushed the lead back to 15 points.
2. Alabama can win with this version of Mark Sears
Alabama has needed more from Mark Sears. They got it against Missouri, albeit in a losing effort. Sears scored a season-high 35 points on 12-of-20 from the floor and 5-of-11 from three-point range.
He still turned it over four times, but he refused to quit and carried the Crimson Tide on his back in the second half. He hit the three to cut the Missouri lead to six with under 10 to play and Alabama pulled back within six in the final two minutes for a brief time.
Sears has his warts and his limitations on defense were noticeable tonight. But if this is version of Sears Alabama gets moving forward, this team can go a long way.
1. The defensive effort was, in a word, embarrassing
There's no sugarcoating a performance when you give up 110 points. Sure, the Tigers hit some tough shots. But the majority of the looks were uncontested and Alabama got beat up inside. The Tigers scored 40 points in the paint and Alabama had no answer for Mark Mitchell.
Alabama gave up 59 points in the first half and even though the effort was better in the second half, the Tigers still scored 51 in the second half. Alabama got next to nothing from Grant Nelson and Cliff Omoruyi inside and spent most of the second half playing smaller with Mo Diobuate and Jarin Stevenson.
Dioubate was one of the few bright spots, playing hard and finishing with a double-double of 13 points and 10 rebounds. He also had four assists and only one turnover before fouling out.
Alabama has not been good enough defensively to be a serious national title contender this year. They had shown some signs of improvement, but the loss in Columbia was a big step backward.