Takeaways from Alabama Basketball's Loss to Clemson

Blake Byler's thoughts and takeaways from the Crimson Tide's first home loss in over a year.

TUSCALOOSA, Ala. — For the first time since March of 2022, Alabama basketball lost a game inside of Coleman Coliseum.

The Crimson Tide fell to Clemson on Tuesday night in the inaugural SEC/ACC Challenge by a final score of 85-77, snapping the 19-game win streak.

There's plenty to talk about, so here are a few of my takeaways from the game:

1. The foot came off the gas, again.

During Alabama's preseason scrimmage against Wake Forest, the team jumped out to a lead and ended up blowing both it, and the game. After the game, Nate Oats talked about how the team took its foot off the gas, and lost its intensity. 

Almost the exact same thing happened Tuesday night.

With 12:52 to go in the second half, Mark Sears hit a deep three to put Alabama up by seven, and Clemson called a timeout. It was the loudest Coleman Coliseum had been all night, and it felt like the moment Alabama was about to pull away.

Instead, Clemson responded with a 13-0 run. The Tigers found their rhythm offensively, and the floodgates opened. Alabama's defense, which had played notably well in the first half of the game, completely fell apart over the final 20 minutes.

Clemson scored 52 points in the half, yet another 50-point half allowed by this Alabama team. The concerns of this defense have been well-documented, and night after night they prove to be true.

Alabama didn't have a great offensive night by any stretch, shooting just 31 percent from three and an abysmal 34 percent from the floor, and it's becoming obvious that when the offense isn't clicking on all cylinders, it's going to be a tough out.

In Alabama's three games against Power Five opponents, it's allowed 89.3 points per game. That's bad.

"We don't have enough defensive pride right now to get stops," Oats said. "We have to get some defensive pride about us. All of us." 

Oats said after the game that "90 percent" of practice time over the next few weeks will be devoted to defense. Let's see if it pays off.

2. Rim protection continues to be an issue.

One of the biggest problems with the defense this year has been the rim protection. In the offseason, we thought the loss of Charles Bediako would affect the defense, but I don't think many anticipated it being to this extent. 

Oats has struggled to find consistent rim protection on this team, and even made a change in the starting lineup, going with Mohamed Wague over Nick Pringle at the center spot to provide a change, and he performed fairly well. 

Clemson, in the words of head coach Brad Brownell, is built a little differently than other college programs in that they consistently post-up two big men. The Tigers feasted on the blocks all game, and it reflected in an above 50 percent clip on shots at the rim. 

Additionally, the lack of rim protection causes the Alabama defense to have to collapse inside against big men like Clemson's PJ Hall, which allows for open threes on kickouts and ball movement. The Tigers capitalized on a lot of these open looks, and made some covered ones too, nailing 11 of their 21 looks from beyond the arc. 

Over the next month, Alabama has games against multiple dominant big men, including reigning National Player of the Year Zach Edey. If things don't improve on the interior in terms of defensive fundamentals or physical toughness, it's going to be a long month.

The answer to that question could be Wague, who was a +10 in just 15 minutes against Clemson and received compliments from Oats after the game.

"I love Mo, he plays hard, he's about the right stuff," Oats said. "He did good in his minutes. [...] He's missed the entire offseason, so everything you see with Mo you've got to take with a grain of salt because he didn't get the reps all offseason. He's going to give us some quality minutes throughout the year and I thought he did good in his minutes tonight."

Wague is still ramping up his reps and minutes after dealing with a foot injury in the offseason, and could be a key piece for this team as he gets more and more acclimated.

3. Mark Sears was the bright spot.

If there's one positive to talk about from the result of this game, it's Mark Sears, and the absolute tear he's been on to start the season.

Coming into the game, Sears was leading the SEC in scoring at 20.3 points per game and third in the league in field goal percentage, shooting over 60 percent from the floor.

He continued his dominance on the offensive end against the Tigers with 23 points on 7-of-14 shooting from the floor. He was the Crimson Tide's most efficient offensive threat, as the efficiency from Aaron Estrada and especially Grant Nelson took a dip, and not many other Alabama players found much success on offense. 

After the game, though, Sears was very clear about what needed to improve for Alabama to get back on track.

"No matter how good on offense we are, if we don't get our defense fixed we're not gonna win games," Sears said. "It's something that we're gonna get fixed. No matter how long it takes, we're gonna get that fixed."

Alabama fans hope he's right, but in the meantime, Sears is putting together an all-conference level season as the leader of this team.

Alabama Basketball’s Home Winning Streak Snapped in 85-77 Loss to Clemson