Murphy’s Law states that anything that can go wrong will go wrong.
For the first few minutes in Mizzou Arena on the night of February 19, 2025, this was certainly the case for No. 4 Alabama men’s basketball as the Crimson Tide ended up falling to No. 15 Missouri 110-98. It’s the Tigers’ most points in an SEC game in program history.
A little over two minutes into the game, the Tigers came out swinging as their 5-for-7 clip from the field while the Crimson Tide’s 0-for-3 slate with two turnovers led to an immediate 12-0 lead in front of a raucous Mizzou crowd.
Alabama’s offense started to wake up and put points on the board, but the Crimson Tide defense was nowhere to be found. Down 42-28 with just over five minutes remaining in the first half, Alabama head coach Nate Oats received his first technical foul of the season after throwing his clipboard down onto the hardwood, forcing it to break into several pieces on impact.
The Crimson Tide closed the first half down 59-46. It’s Missouri’s most points scored in a half against a ranked opponent this season and the fourth-most in a half this season (most in SEC play). Tigers big man Mark Mitchell was a massive reason for this as he scored 18 points on 8-for-11 from the field. This was a theme for Mizzou in the opening 20 minutes as it shot 61 percent in that span.
Oats made the moves to bench starting guard Chris Youngblood and starting center Clifford Omoruyi to open the second half and replaced them with forwards Jarin Stevenson and Mouhamed Dioubate. Alabama made a bit more progress with this new lineup as it cut the lead to within 10 numerous times, but the sluggish defense kept the Crimson Tide from being in a single-digit deficit until the below 12-minute mark.
Alabama guard Mark Sears was one of the Crimson Tide’s few bright lights as he scored 14 points in the first half. This continued in the second period as he led his team out from the dark to narrow the deficit all the way down to six points with less than 10 minutes to go.
However, despite scoring 26 points prior to the timeout, the rest of Alabama couldn’t help Sears the rest of the way. Tigers guard Caleb Grill was a big reason for this as he finished with 25 points and Mitchell continued his dominance to total a career-high 31 points. Sears scored a season-high 35 points.
Alabama has not had a lead in the last two games.
This loss gives the Tide a 10-3 record in SEC play. No. 2 Florida came into Wednesday third in the SEC with a 10-3 record against the conference after dismantling Arkansas on Tuesday. In other words, the Gators and Crimson Tide are now tied for second place in the conference.
The question is no longer if Alabama will make the NCAA Tournament. It’s what seed will Oats and company be on Sunday, March 16. The Crimson Tide was placed at the No. 2 overall spot and the No. 1 seed in the Midwest Region of the bracket during the selection committee’s initial top 16 seeds reveal on Saturday morning, but that was before it lost to No. 1 Auburn.
It’ll be a race between the Crimson Tide and the Gators for the two-seed in the SEC Tournament, but Florida indisputably has an easier final slate that includes two unranked teams. Auburn has all but locked up the one-seed as it leads Alabama for the conference lead by one game and also has a less challenging end to the regular season.
With this in mind, regardless of whether Alabama is the No. 2 or No. 3 seed in the SEC Tournament, it’ll likely be a No. 1 seed in the NCAA Tournament should the Tide reach the conference championship. Losing in the semifinals in Nashville could bring Alabama to a two-seed in March Madness.
This story will be updated.
