Second-seed Alabama men’s basketball fell to 15-seed Ole Miss 80-79 in the SEC tournament quarterfinals on Friday.
“We tried to tell our guys this was a lot different team than what we saw in Oxford,” head coach Nate Oats said postgame.
The Crimson Tide struggled in the paint, shooting a dismal 8/23 on layups. The team was also outrebounded by the Rebels 42-36, as season-long rebounding struggles appeared yet again. Star guard Labaron Philon Jr. led all scorers with 28 points on 9/16 shooting, despite reportedly being under the weather, per the SEC Network broadcast.
Ole Miss began the game on a heater as forward Malik Dia connected on two triples on as many possessions. Holloway responded with a triple of his own to get the Crimson Tide on the board. The Rebels mustered a 14-9 lead in the opening four minutes as Dia got up to 8 points on the evening.
The Rebels opened up a double-digit lead with under 12 minutes to play as the Crimson Tide struggled to find rhythm on either side of the ball, missing three of its last four shot attempts and surrendering an astounding 60% rate from beyond the arc to the Rebels. The lead soared to 14 points as Rebels guard AJ Storr continued to sizzle with 13 first-half points.
Alabama put together a 10-2 run to slim the deficit to 6 points with 1:57 to go, as Philon began to heat up. He made four of his last five shots to finish the first half. Ole Miss held strong and maintained a 6-point advantage entering halftime.
The lead remained at 6 points after four minutes of play in the second half, as the two squads traded buckets. The Crimson Tide proceeded to miss 10 of its next 11 attempts, allowing the Rebels to open up a 13-point cushion with 13:19 to play. Philon sat for several minutes after taking a hit to his face on a drive into the paint.
Once he re-entered, Alabama’s offense got into gear. A 7-0 run willed Alabama back into the game as the Rebels entered an offensive lull of their own. Ole Miss knocked down just one of its last eight shots, while Alabama knocked down four straight jumpers, including a lob that forward Taylor Bol Bowen finished emphatically, cutting the deficit to 4 points with 8:58 to go.
Alabama continued to edge closer, but the Rebels continued to answer, as guard Ilias Kamardine drilled a contested triple as the shot clock expired, extending the lead back to 7 points with 3:47 to play.
A dunk from center Aiden Sherrell trimmed the Rebels’ lead down to 3 points with 1:42 to go, but Kamardine responded again, this time with a pull-up jumper that moved the lead back to 5. After an empty possession for Ole Miss, the Crimson Tide edged within 1 point after Philon drilled two free throws.
Alabama had a chance to win the game on a fastbreak with eight seconds to play, but a disjointed final sequence saw Philon’s errant pass intended for Sherrell end up in the hands of Rebels forward James Scott.
Oats said that he could not fault Philon for deciding to pass the ball instead of taking the final shot. Oats added that he should have taken a timeout to set up a better play.
A last-chance half-court heave from forward Amari Allen rattled off the rim, sealing a stunning upset, as the SEC regular-season runner-up crashed out of the tourney in Nashville.
“If we give the same effort in the NCAA tournament that we gave the first 30 minutes tonight, we’ll be home quickly,” Oats said.
The Crimson Tide will learn its NCAA tournament seeding on Sunday evening, as the final field of 68 will be revealed at 5 p.m. on CBS.
