By Chris DePew
TideFans.com Staff
Jan. 31, 2018
After four days worth of praise for taking down No. 12 Oklahoma, Alabama’s young squad came out lethargic and overconfident, as shorthanded Missouri snapped a three-game losing streak with a 69-60 upset at Coleman Coliseum.
What did we learn today?: This is a wasteful team that squanders away too many advantages. Bama shot more than twice as many free throws as Mizzou but was an anemic 21-for-32 from the stripe. The Crimson Tide entered with a significant depth advantage that was only magnified by the Tigers’ foul trouble, but was content to play the grinding half-court style the visitors needed to have any shot at winning. Missouri turned the ball over 19 times, but the Tide managed just 18 points off those giveaways.
In the bigger picture, Bama is letting things go to waste as well. Halfway through the conference schedule, it sits at a middling 5-4 despite having already played eight teams with losing SEC records. Now it faces a brutal February slate where five of the eight games will be against the league’s four best teams – including road trips to Florida, Kentucky and league-leading Auburn. Alabama is drifting squarely back onto the bubble with a profile that the advanced analytics formulas already hate. If the Crimson Tide can’t snap its NCAA tournament drought during Collin Sexton’s one-year stay in Tuscaloosa, that will be the biggest waste of all.
What were the biggest concerns?: Bama has played against better big men than Jeremiah Tilmon and Jontay Porter, but you wouldn’t know it the way the Tigers duo trashed the Crimson Tide frontcourt. The 6-foot-10 Tilmon made all six of his field goal attempts and the 6-11 Porter went 6-for-9 from the field with a 3-pointer. Neither played more than 18 minutes due to foul trouble, but Bama couldn’t deny them entry passes and had no answers once they got the ball, ending up with only three blocked shots. Donta Hall had probably his worst defensive game of the year, and only scored two of his nine points after halftime. No Bama player had more than four rebounds, including a prominent goose egg for Daniel Giddens. Braxton Key and Herbert Jones were overwhelmed defensively by Mizzou’s size and combined for just one point, with Jones jacking up ill-advised shots and Key looking to scared to even try to score.
Alabama managed to get outscored in both halves in dramatically different ways. In the first 20 minutes the Tide couldn’t hang onto the ball, turning it over nine times to leave it facing a 35-33 deficit despite shooting better than 52 percent from the field. The reverse problem took hold after intermission, with Bama coughing it up just twice but shooting a brutal 6-for-27 from the floor.
What was the best part of the game?: Sexton sent Bama into halftime on a positive note with a buzzer-beating 3-pointer. As time ticked down with the ball in his hands, he set up his defender by making a quick jab step past the arc. Fearing a drive to the hoop, Jordan Geist backed off just enough to give Sexton a clear shot from the perimeter for one of his three treys.
Who was the star?: Sexton had his share struggles, going just 6-for-10 from the foul line and letting Kassius Robertson explode for 22 points. But the freshman point guard had a game-high 23 points and made seven of Alabama’s 17 field goals on a night where too many teammates either couldn’t get open or wouldn’t pull the trigger. This team is crying out for on-court leadership, and right now he’s the only player consistently playing well enough to have the credibility to take control.
What’s next?: A two-game road swing begins Saturday in Gainesville against No. 23 Florida. Tipoff on ESPN is at 3 p.m. Central.
Follow Chris DePew on Twitter @TideFansChris