No. 4 Alabama suffered its first loss in conference play on Tuesday, falling 74-64 at home to Ole Miss. The Rebels’ win was their first-ever on the road versus an AP top-5 team.
The start of the first half was riddled with turnovers from the Crimson Tide, leading to it being down 10-6. Alabama committed seven turnovers in the first six minutes and 11 in the half
Back-to-back 3-pointers from guard Chris Youngblood and a shot-clock-beating dunk from forward Grant Nelson seemed to refocus Alabama, as it went on a 6-2 run after the slow start.
It appeared that the Rebels’ strategy throughout the half was to prioritize pressure on the Alabama offense, draining down the shot clock and forcing the Crimson Tide to rush its shots.
“Ole Miss did a great job of guarding,” guard Aden Holloway said. “They executed their game plan really well.”
The Rebels’ pressure led to a foul when Nelson went up for a dunk with 11:48 left in half and landed hard, which forced him to exit the game. Though his departure was initially a scary sight for Alabama fans, he returned later in the half seemingly uninjured.
After Nelson left the game, Alabama struggled briefly to capture momentum, giving up a 5-0 run, which resulted in a 19-19 score with 9:20 left in the half. The teams traded buckets throughout the remainder of the first period, and the Crimson Tide led 36-32 at halftime.
Alabama took nearly three minutes to score its first bucket of the second half, as it came with 17:01 left on the clock. This was part of a 13-4 run from Ole Miss that gave the Rebels a 46-40 lead with 14:12 remaining in the game, dimming the volume of a packed Coleman Coliseum.
“We knew this was going to be one of the toughest environments for us to play in,” Ole Miss head coach Chris Beard said. “I think our guys did a pretty good job controlling those moments.”
Nelson rejuvenated the crowd with a dunk on one end of the floor and a block on the other. Coupled with a technical foul on Ole Miss, the dunk helped the Crimson Tide pull within 2 points with 12 minutes remaining in the contest.
From that point, Ole Miss went on a 10-2 run, thanks to the Crimson Tide’s misses and turnovers. Forced into unfamiliar territory, Oats’ team needed to find a way to come from behind late in the half.
Alabama called timeout with nine minutes left to play and the team down 10 points, and it was followed by a jam from forward Jarin Stevenson thatsent Coleman Coliseum into a frenzy.
The energy in the building quickly died as the Rebels went on a 5-0 run, making the score 61-51 with 4:30 remaining in the game. Ole Miss pulled away and won the game despite a late Alabama push, leaving the hometown fans stunned by the upset.
“They were in the Final Four for a reason last year,” Beard said. “They’re one of the best teams in college basketball. Maybe it’s time to talk about Ole Miss.”
The Crimson Tide ended the game with 21 turnovers, a problem in nonconference play that has now reared its ugly head in SEC play.
Head coach Nate Oats attributed the loss to a poor effort on the offensive glass. Alabama had just four offensive rebounds and was outrebounded on the offensive side by five. He also said that his team’s effort was “disgusting.”
“Maybe the most disappointing thing of the night was our lack of effort on the offensive glass,” he said.
Scoring was spread fairly evenly amongst Alabama’s players, with Holloway leading the way with 15 points. He also grabbed six rebounds and dished out three assists.
Guard Mark Sears had 11 points on 2/8 shooting, along with five assists and four rebounds.
The Crimson Tide will return on Saturday for a top-10 showdown with No. 8 Kentucky in Lexington at 11 a.m. CT. The game will be streamed on ESPN.
