The eyes of the college basketball world were on the state of Alabama as No. 1 Auburn took down No. 2 Alabama 94-85 in the first ever SEC meeting between the AP poll’s No. 1 and No. 2 teams.
The Tigers got off to a hot start, sinking three straight from downtown to open the game with a 9-0 lead just two minutes in.
Alabama scored its first points off a pair of free throws from forward Grant Nelson, but the team missed its first six shots of the contest, including four attempts from the 3-point line.
“They did a good job running us off the line,” guard Chris Youngblood said.
A missed dunk from Auburn center Johni Broome and a jam on the other end by forward Mouhamed Dioubate helped stir the crowd back up and tighten the game at 14-13 in favor of Auburn with 13:30 left.
The Tigers swiftly got back on track, going on a 16-4 run thanks to tough perimeter defense and success at the free throw line to take a 26-17 lead at the 10-minute mark.
The Crimson Tide finally made its first two 3-pointers of the game back-to-back to narrow the deficit to 26-25 with 7:29 left in the period.
The teams traded buckets for most of the remainder of the half, but the Tigers were able to create a bit of a cushion after ending on a 7-0 run. They led 42-33 as the players cleared the floor for halftime.
The Tigers’ defensive scheme involved doing everything possible to keep Alabama off of the 3-point line. This was successful in the first half, as the Crimson Tide shot just 2/15 from behind the arc.
Auburn guard Denver Jones said Tigers head coach Bruce Pearl “put up a great game plan of how to guard their actions.”
Things did not go Alabama’s way to start the second half. It began with an airballed 3-point attempt from forward Jarin Stevenson out of the gate and continued when the Tigers drilled three 3s. The score was 55-41 in favor of Auburn with 15:45 on the clock, and momentum needed to shift fast if the Crimson Tide was going to get back into the game.
Fortunately for Alabama, it did. A 10-0 run, including a deep 3-pointer from guard Mark Sears, forced Auburn to call a timeout, turning Coleman Coliseum into a madhouse with objects even being tossed. The score was 63-60 Auburn with 9:36 left.
“I’ve never heard Coleman this loud,” Auburn head coach Bruce Pearl said.
After both teams took turns drilling shots, Auburn answered with a run to grow the lead to 77-68 with 4:54 left in the game.
The Crimson Tide made a late push, cutting the lead to as little as 5 in the final minute, but it was too little, too late, and the Tigers walked away with the Iron Bowl of Basketball victory.
“Obviously it’s a disappointing loss,” head coach Nate Oats said. “Give Auburn a lot of credit. They are the No. 1 team in the country for a reason.”
The story of the game was the dismal shooting performance from Alabama. The Crimson Tide shot just 27/70 from the field and 5/26 from 3.
Oats also attributed the loss to his team’s shot selection.
“When it’s a tight game, we got to do a better job of finding better shots,” he said.
Additionally, he wasn’t pleased with his team’s perimeter defense, noting that “too many guys got 3s off that weren’t supposed to”.
A positive aspect of the game was Alabama’s limited number of turnovers. It committed just 6, a welcome number with the team looking to improve from previous games where it coughed the ball up more than 20 times.
“That’s the funny thing about basketball, even in losses you take those small wins,” Youngblood said. “Got to be able to take small wins, so we took care of that.”
Sears led Alabama in scoring with 18 points, converting 8/11 free throw attempts. He added a pair of assists.
Nelson had 12 points on 5/11 shooting and pulled down 12 rebounds.Guards Labaron Philon and Aden Holloway added 10 points each.
“It’s pretty frustrating, but it’s crucial that we move on and get ready for a pretty good Missouri team,” Youngblood said.
Next up for the Crimson Tide is a road trip Wednesday to Columbia to take on No. 21 Missouri. The game is at 8 p.m. CT and can be streamed on SEC Network.
