When it’s all going right for Alabama and Mark Sears is splashing shots and Grant Nelson is getting under people’s skin and Nate Oats is shuffling in waves of explosive athletes and rim protectors off a bench that goes 10 deep, there is no scarier team in college basketball.
They’re a team that could, maybe even should, win a national championship.
When Alabama is good, they’re really that good.
But here’s the problem for the Crimson Tide: As of today, Auburn is better.
There’s no disputing it, no denying it: Auburn 94, Alabama 85 in the SEC’s first No. 1 vs. 2 matchup was a statement in Tuscaloosa.
Auburn came in as the No. 2-ranked team and it left as an emphatic No. 1 that was better-coached, mentally tougher and more equipped to win this one-of-a-kind, in-state race for each school’s first basketball national title.
That much was clear Saturday night. It’s a long way to the first weekend in April, and all the caveats apply in a one-and-done tournament, but Auburn looks like a team that’s got the goods to go all the way.
As for Alabama? Well, sometimes they do. And other times — like Saturday night — they look destined to be one of the nation’s biggest disappointments.
All that talent, all that speed, all that experience from a bunch of guys who played in a Final Four last year and they do…that? At home? With the No. 1 ranking on the line? Against their biggest rival?
Not a good look, to be honest.
Alabama fans will point to the shooting, and that’s absolutely why the Crimson Tide lost this game. A meager 5-of-26 from the 3-point line, 27-for-70 from the floor and nine missed free throws? That’s not going to get it done. And it’s highly uncharacteristic of a team ranked No. 2 in offensive efficiency at kenpom.com.
But how many of those misses were truly great looks — the kind that you bank on highly accomplished shooters like Sears and Aden Holloway and Chris Youngblood making under normal circumstances? Not a whole lot.
Auburn coach Bruce Pearl devoted their gameplan to making sure Alabama didn’t get clean looks from the 3-point line. Easy to say, not easy to do — but the Tigers did it and controlled the game because of it.
Auburn made Alabama look almost a bit panicked in the first half as the stuff Sears normally generates with the ball in his hands just wasn’t there. That’s why Auburn went into halftime with a nine-point lead and pushed it to 59-45 with 13:43 remaining.
Then, for a stretch, we got the good Alabama. Shots were going in. Their defensive intensity picked up. Sears started controlling the pace. And in the span of about six minutes, Alabama erased the entire deficit.
Outside of that short stretch, though, Auburn pretty much did what it wanted to do. And the Tigers did it on the road, in what Pearl told ESPN was the best atmosphere he’d ever experienced at Coleman Coliseum.
All in all, Auburn might not have a better night all season, unless they’re cutting down the nets in San Antonio on April 7.
The only good news for Alabama is that it still has time and opportunity. The Crimson Tide will play Auburn again on March 8, perhaps one more time in the SEC tournament and maybe — hide the children if this happens — with something even more significant on the line down the road.
If nothing else, Saturday showed Alabama the level it needs to reach this season if the national title is as realistic a goal as it should be given the talent and experience on this roster.
Maybe Duke is a touch better than Auburn, or maybe the Tigers will suffer some type of devastating injury that takes them out of the mix, or perhaps they’ll simply blow it against an inferior opponent as so many top-ranked teams have done in March.
But for now, they’re the standard in college basketball. They proved it in Tuscaloosa. And unless Alabama wants to watch its hated rival hang a banner, it must rise to Auburn’s level.
Alabama was well short of it this time. Let’s see if anything has changed when they meet again three weeks from now.
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