Alabama Basketball Flops in Regular Season Finale

The Crimson Tide could not overcome a season-low in points in loss at Missouri

Alabama Athletics

It was the worst offensive performance of the season for the University of Alabama men's basketball team on Saturday afternoon.

The Crimson Tide shot 30 percent (14-of-46) from the field and 16 percent (4-of-25) from three-point range in its 69-50 defeat to the Tigers inside Mizzou Arena.

A sloppy outing on offense led to 18 turnovers. 

Coming into the game, Alabama had averaged 83.1 points per outing, which was best in the SEC. But the team's 50 points were a season-low and worst output in a game since January 2018. 

Crimson Tide sophomore guard Kira Lewis Jr. finished with a game-high 18 points and four assists.

"I thought they were really good and their game plan caused us fits," Alabama coach Nate Oats said in a release. "They kind of bottled up Kira’s penetration and took away our three-point shooting. I thought we battled hard for about 30 minutes and they went a run that took it from three-point lead for us to go up around 10 with eight minutes left. 

"From what our assistants told me, they scored on 17 of their final 18 possessions before intentionally not scoring on their last couple. It was pretty embarrassing effort on defense to close the game out. Going into the game, we said that no matter what happens, let’s make sure and give an effort the whole game. I thought we did that up until that point then the dam just sort of broke.”

At intermission, Alabama (16-15, 8-10 SEC) only trailed by one, 21-20, despite a season-low in first half points scored and field goal percentage at 27 percent (7-of-26). 

The Crimson Tide jumped out to a 37-34 lead after the break, but Missouri proceeded to go on a 12-1 run to take an eight-point lead. 

Across the final 10:10 of action, the Tigers outscored Alabama, 35-13, to easily seal the 69-50 victory. 

Only Lewis, freshman guard Jaden Shackelford, and forward Galin Smith made a field goal for the Crimson Tide in the second half.

Shackelford was 4-of-10 from the field, netting 13 points while grabbing five rebounds, and recording one steal. Smith poured in 10 points on 4-of-8 shooting and pulled in four boards. 

Crimson Tide junior guard/forward Herbert Jones was still playing with that soft cast on his left wrist. All three of his points came from the free-throw line, where he shot them all one-handed with his non-dominant hand. 

Junior wing John Petty Jr. returned to action after missing the last two games with a slight ligament strain in his elbow. He was inserted into the starting lineup, but only scored one point and missed all five of his field goal attempts.

Missouri's (15-16, 7-11 SEC) leading scorer was junior guard Dru Smith, who dropped 17 points, eight assists, two rebounds, and two steals. 

Tigers junior forward Jeremiah Tilmon snagged a game-high nine boards, which went a long way in helping Missouri win the battle on the glass, 42-27. He also scored eight points and blocked one shot.