It wasn’t a good day for Alabama’s mens basketball team as number one ranked Auburn edged the number two Crimson Tide. Fans of both teams are already eyeing a rematch scheduled for early March. The Tigers beat the Tide ninety four to eighty five in this highly anticipated match up of top teams in the nation. Tide Head coach Nate Oats says Alabama has tasted defeat before and can bounce back.
“When we got beat at home by Tennessee last year on game day, I thought we had a major let down leadership on the team didn't rally us together enough to be ready to go on the road and play Florida. We got challenged pretty good on the road. We got a better leadership this year,” Oats said.
Mark Sears scored eighteen points and Grant Nelson added twelve points and twelve rebounds for Alabama, which rallied from a double-digit deficit in the game, but failed to complete the comeback. Auburn forward Johni Broome used the stage to restate his case in the player-of-the-year race — one that took a hit after he missed two games due to injuries and played just two minutes in a third. Broome controlled the game Saturday, finishing with nineteen points, fourteen rebounds, six assists, two blocks and a steal. Nate Oats says the match pointed out weaknesses Alabama has to work on..
“So the start to the first half, into the first half, start to the second half, into the second half, they're plus twenty nine, if you take those runs together that we talk about, starts and close closes the halves a lot, and we did an awful job, and they did a great job it. So yes, to answer your point, the scoreless run, we close the half out with, you know, not good. We go in down nine. So we got to be better on both sides of the ball, starts and closes to both halves moving forward,” he said.
"All eyes in college basketball were on the state of Alabama and the SEC," Auburn coach Bruce Pearl said after his team improved to 23-2 overall and 11-1 in the conference. "What this conference has done in men's basketball is historic."
Pearl pointed to Auburn's hot start in the game, scoring the first nine points, as key to winning on the road in big games. The Tide hits the road to face the Missouri Tigers on Wednesday. For more in this story, go to apr.org.
