Despite the disappointment of losing to Auburn in one of the biggest regular season games in recent program history there is absolutely no time for this Alabama team to hang their heads. This team has responded well from other losses this season, and it is crucial they do the same considering the gauntlet they will endure for the rest of the SEC regular season.
Going on the road in the SEC has been tough for most teams but the Crimson Tide is currently perfect on the road and will look to stay perfect going into a hostile Columbia, Missouri Wednesday night.
There are no moral victories after a loss, especially against your biggest rival, but as we all know everything is still in front of Nate Oats' team. They can still get a 1 seed in the NCAA tournament, a double bye in the SEC tournament, and if things go right are still in contention for an SEC regular season championship.
To accomplish these things this team will have to play much better than they did Saturday afternoon in Coleman. The defense will have to be better, and shots are going to have to fall. I will say it is impressive despite the bad shooting day Alabama made some strong runs in the second half against the Tigers.
Mark Sears will need to play a much cleaner game and I am sure he will have a much better shooting day than he did this past Saturday.
The defensive effort is going to have to be better as Broome and the Auburn guards did what they wanted on the offensive side of the ball. A win on the road against another Tigers team will be huge for this basketball team with Kentucky coming to town looking for a little revenge on Saturday. We are about to find out how mentally tough this team is, but based on how the majority of this season has gone they will respond well and get back to the winning ways we, as fans, have become accustomed to this season.