It was Blue-Collar night on Tuesday night in Coleman Coliseum, a night meant to highlight the heart and soul of the Alabama basketball program under Nate Oats. For all the flash of the high-tempo offense and barrage of three-point shots, the Tide's bread-and-butter is toughness and a willingness to always play harder than their opponent.
When Alabama has lost games under Oats, it rarely has been because they didn't play hard enough. It usually is because of historically poor shooting nights or the other team getting hot and repeatedly making difficult shots.
Against Ole Miss on Tuesday, Alabama lost because the Rebels wanted it more. It is a difficult reality for Oats and his team to face.
Yes, Alabama shot poorly, connecting on just 5/20 (25%) from three, but the Crimson Tide has been overcoming poor shooting all season long. Alabama shoots just 32% from three on the year, but they've bludgeoned the opposition on the offensive glass to get numerous second-chance opportunities to render the poor shooting as a mere footnote.
Against one of the worst rebounding teams in the country, it seemed likely that trend would continue. But Alabama managed just four offensive rebounds against the Rebels, only one of which came in the first half. And that one wasn't really even an offensive board; it was a missed dunk by Jarin Stevenson that ended in basket interference and a turnover that was counted as a rebound.
As a result, Ole Miss attempted 23 more shots than Alabama and walked into Coleman Coliseum, and left with a victory despite only shooting 38.6% from the field and 28.6% from three. Those numbers should never be good enough to beat Alabama, but it was because the Rebels wanted this game more than the Crimson Tide did.
Nate Oats shared the Blue-Collar numbers are the game, with Alabama finishing 17.5 points behind Ole Miss:
Nate Oats said Alabama had 72.5 blue-collar points to Ole Miss' 89.5
— Blake Byler (@blakebyler45) January 15, 2025
"I told the guys, we have to deserve to win the game, and we didn't deserve to win tonight."
Alabama came into Tuesday's game mentally and physically drained following a long road trip to College Station and a win over the Aggies on Saturday. The Saturday-to-Tuesday turnaround following a trip to Texas A&M was always going to be difficult, and Alabama's off-shooting night shouldn't come as a surprise.
But these are the nights you lean on your bread-and-butter. The blue-collar nature of your program has to shine and you have to go get an ugly win any way that you can. Instead, Alabama let Ole Miss win the hustle plays. The Rebels were first to the floor, more willing to dive for loose balls and hit the offensive glass than the Tide.
Alabama was beaten at its own game. The Tide technically "won" the rebounding battle at +2, but that's only because they had so many more opportunities on the defensive glass due to the shot disparity. In reality, the Rebels held a 9-4 advantage on the offensive glass.
Alabama looked like a team on Tuesday that thought it was good enough to just go through the motions and get a win on their home floor. Instead, they got punched in the mouth in what will hopefully be a wake-up call for a team with national championship aspirations.
The team we saw on Tuesday is nowhere close to a title contender. The team we saw on Tuesday gets bounced on the opening weekend of the NCAA Tournament.