When Nate Oats karate chopped his whiteboard in the first half of No. 4 Alabama’s 110-98 loss at No. 15 Missouri on Wednesday night and received a technical foul, it seemed like more than just a frustrated reaction to a single foul call on Crimson Tide guard Mark Sears. It looked like a release of mounting displeasure amid what is now Bama’s first two-game losing streak of the season.
Four days after surrendering 94 points in a home loss to No. 1 Auburn, Alabama (21-5, 10-3 SEC) gave up 110 or more in a game for just the second time since 1973. Increasingly, it appears defense — or the lack of it — could be a limiting factor in the Crimson Tide’s aspirations.
After getting diced up by Mizzou (more on the Tigers’ sterling showing below), Alabama is down to No. 46 in defensive efficiency at KenPom. The Tigers scored 59 in the first half alone while building their lead to 20 points. Alabama managed to stay close in the second half behind a season-high 35 points from Sears. But the Crimson Tide simply couldn’t stop fouling.
Missouri’s 47 free-throw attempts were the second-most in program history and the most-ever attempted in a non-overtime game. Don’t look now, but Alabama’s two losses over the past week marked only the beginning of a brutal closing stretch. The Crimson Tide, who are a projected No. 1 seed in the NCAA Tournament for now, play five more games against ranked opposition to close the regular season.
Here are the biggest takeaways from Wednesday’s college basketball slate, including more on Missouri’s remarkable resurgence.
Missouri a Tier 1 title contender?
There’s a short list of teams who can actually win the national championship this year. The Big Four…
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