Facing the second-best offense in the SEC, Alabama men’s basketball was already due for its fair share of work with Arkansas in Tuscaloosa on Saturday night.

As if defending 80.2 points per game wasn’t enough, the news of junior forward Herbert Jones being sidelined indefinitely due to a fractured left wrist made the task too much for the Crimson Tide.

Despite a career night from freshman guard Jaden Shackelford who finished with 28 points and seven rebounds, Alabama could not come away with the victory, losing 82-78 to the Razorbacks.

“[Herb] brings a lot to our team,” Shackelford said. “He’s a glue guy. He gives his all every single game, every single minute, every single second. He brings us together, [but] without him, we still gotta go out there and do our job. We gotta gel, we gotta talk, and we gotta do the little things that help our team do better on defense.”

Alabama started the game nearly perfect, jumping out to a 12-0 lead in the first three minutes of the game, making its first four shots and forcing Arkansas coach Eric Musselman to take two of his four timeouts.

But it did not get any better for the Crimson Tide. It began to return to its early season form, as it turned the ball over 11 times in the first half and allowed 20 points off of them.

Overall, Alabama committed 17 turnovers and the Razorbacks turned them into 27 points.

“It’s one thing if it’s a charge or a travel or a referee blows a whistle on it, but we were just throwing the ball to the other team,” coach Nate Oats said. “… They are one of the better teams in the country of turning people over and we did a really poor job of taking care of the ball.”

The second half consisted of three elongated runs, two by Arkansas and one by Alabama, that saw the lead change drastically three times. With Alabama leading by 6 points five minutes into the second half, the Razorbacks went on a 15-2 run to jump out to a 64-57 lead. But the Crimson Tide came right back with a run of its own, outscoring Arkansas 12-2, to lead by 3 with just over four minutes remaining.

But it was Arkansas who gave the final blow by going on a 11-1 run to put Alabama away and led by 7 with just over a minute remaining. The Crimson Tide did not help itself either, making no shots in the final 4:11 outside of Shackelford’s 3-pointer at the buzzer. The team was also in foul trouble, with four players having four or more fouls.

“To win close games late, you have to get stops,” Oats said. “… We were getting the energy we needed [from the crowd] late in the game to get those stops, and we just couldn’t come up with them.”

Sophomore guard Kira Lewis Jr. scored 12 points on 4-of-13 shooting while turning the ball over seven times. Junior guard John Petty Jr. finished with eight points, nine rebounds, and four turnovers.

Alabama (12-9 overall, 4-4 SEC) will face Tennessee on Tuesday at 6 p.m. CT in Coleman Coliseum. The Crimson Tide has won four of its past five meetings against the Volunteers at home.