In a game that had major implications in the SEC race (for a regular season title and Top-4 seed for a double bye) along with NCAA Tournament implications with the winner having an inside track at a No. 1 seed, Alabama basketball blew the game down the stretch to Tennessee and lost 79-76 on a Jahmai Mashack buzzer-beating three pointer.
Alabama led for the majority of the afternoon, pushing the lead to as many as nine points in the second half. But the Vols fought back and even took the lead with under four minutes to play. But a Mark Sears three with two minutes to play gave the Tide a 73-70 lead. A Labaron Philon layup following a pair of made three throws by Zakai Ziegler put Alabama back up by three.
The Tide locked up on defense and got a stop when it needed to with just 36 seconds left. Philon split a pair of free throws to give Alabama a four point lead. Chaz Lanier made a bucket plus the foul and then the Tide gave up an offensive rebound and fouled in the process, allowing Mashack to tie the game with 30 seconds left at 76.
With less than a second differential between the game clock and shot clock, Alabama figured to get the last shot. Instead, Alabama was unable to get the ball in the hands of Sears and Philon instead attacked the rim, where Tennessee was able to tie him up and force a jump ball that was in the Tide's favor.
With two timeouts at his disposal, Nate Oats didn't take one as Philon struggled to inbound the ball and a five-seconds call gave the ball back to Tennessee with just 3.8 seconds left. That was enough time for Mashack to drain a 30-footer at the buzzer to deliver a 79-76 win for the Vols.
3 Takeaways from Alabama's heartbreaking loss to Tennessee
3. The end of game execution falls at the feet of Nate Oats
It was flat out coaching malpractice at the end of the game by Oats. He's a terrific head coach, but if we're calling a spade a spade, what happened at the end is squarely on his shoulders. Not calling a timeout initially to set something up with 30 seconds to play was questionable enough. When Philon could not get the ball to Sears, that probably should have prompted the timeout.
Following the tie-up, putting Philon as the triggerer out of bounds was questionable at best. Philon had struggled and turned it over twice previously in the game on in-bounds plays. A veteran player like Chris Youngblood or Grant Nelson should have been the in-bounder instead.
Less forgivable than that was Oats not calling a timeout, when he's 10 yards away from the play, and with two left in his pocket. You cannot allow a five-second call in that situation. If you can't get a clean look, so be it, but the worst-case scenario has to be that the game goes to overtime.
Instead, Tennessee got a possession it shouldn't have had, and Mashack hit the shot to sink the Tide.
Oats owned those issues in the last 30 seconds in the postgame:
Nate Oats: "I was not good over the last 30 seconds today. I feel like I failed these guys"
— Nick Kelly (@_NickKelly) March 1, 2025
2. Alabama blew too many opportunities throughout the game
In fairness to Oats, the game should have never come down to the last 30 seconds. It only did because the Crimson Tide blew opportunity after opportunity.
Alabama played well enough to win this game. They limited Tennessee defensively, holding Chaz Lanier to just 18 points on 16 shot attempts. Philon was outstanding on him for most of the game.
The Crimson Tide matched Tennessee's physicality and finished +11 (43-32) on the glass. They didn't shoot the ball great from deep, but 37.5% should have been enough to win the game.
But Alabama could never hit a knockout blow. They had chances to extend the lead to double digits on multiple occasions and they just couldn't make a play when they needed to.
Alabama shot only 44.4% from two-point range - down from their 60% season average. They also missed 9 free throws, shooting just 73% from the free throw line.
1. This loss ends Alabama's hopes of an SEC Championship and is damaging to No. 1 seed hopes
The expectation now is that Alabama will fall to the 2-seed line following the loss in Knoxville with Tennessee replacing them. Alabama can probably leapfrog the Vols again if they beat Florida at home and Auburn on the road to finish the season.
But this loss does officially clinch a regular season SEC title for Auburn. The Tigers clinched a share by beating Kentucky earlier in the day, but Alabama's loss gives the title to the Tigers outright. An Alabama win over Florida and an Auburn loss to Texas A&M on Tuesday would have given Alabama a chance to steal a share of the title next Saturday at Auburn if they had pulled it out today.
Instead, Alabama falls to 23-6 overall and 12-4 in SEC play with a brutal two-game stretch to finish the regular season. They'll probably need to win at least one of them to get the all important double bye in the SEC Tournament.