Under Coleman Coliseum’s brightest lights ever, Alabama basketball flopped at finish | Goodbread

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The start was easy enough.

What else but a Mark Sears 3-pointer to ignite an explosively loud Alabama basketball home crowd that had spent the day brewing with the excitement of the first-ever ESPN “College GameDay” visit to Tuscaloosa for hoops?

For the Crimson Tide to knock off rival Tennessee, however, a finish was required. And in a gutting 81-74 loss to the Volunteers on Saturday, with first place in the SEC at stake, its finish was a flop. Alabama’s vaunted offense went largely quiet after building a 58-51 second-half lead with 11:50 remaining, going ice cold from that point forward in missing 18 of its last 21 field goal attempts.

SEC RACE: Alabama basketball loses dogfight with Tennessee, drops out of SEC lead

At home, where shots have fallen for this team all season.

At home, where it hadn’t lost a conference game all season.

At home, in front of its most electric crowd all season.

Alabama’s often-troublesome defense held the SEC’s leading scorer, UT’s Dalton Knecht, to 13 points on 5-of-14 shooting. But in the critical closing minutes, with Tennessee clinging to a slim lead, it allowed the Volunteers’ Josiah-Jordan James a crucial uncontested 3-pointer from the left corner. Shortly after, Alabama’s defense had to begin fouling to stop the clock, and Tennessee ended up pouring in 11 points over the final three minutes.

A sour finish on both ends of the floor.

A shot at Alabama’s third SEC regular-season championship in Oats’ five years as coach largely slipped away in the process; the Volunteers (23-6, 13-3 SEC) now hold a four-finger grip on the top spot in the SEC with two games remaining and two head-to-head wins over the Crimson Tide (20-9, 12-4).

The disappointment in Nate Oats’ voice came through even clearer than his words.

“We didn’t make a field goal for almost nine minutes,” Oats said. “So if you don’t make a field goal for nine minutes, you’re probably not taking the best shots, and you’re turning it over in combination.”

This Alabama team has evolved into the…

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Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/under-coleman-coliseums-brightest-lights-051645800.html

Author : The Tuscaloosa News

Publish date : 2024-03-03 05:16:45

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