Takeaways from Alabama Basketball's Rivalry Win Over Auburn

Thoughts and observations from the Crimson Tide's rivalry victory.

TUSCALOOSA, Ala. — Coming off an embarrassing road loss, the Alabama basketball team had its back against the wall with a visit from No. 8 Auburn on the docket. The Crimson Tide responded to the loss in a massive way, downing the Tigers 79-75 to pick up its biggest win of the season.

Mark Sears scored 22 points in the win, leading both teams. He added five rebounds and eight assists to his scoring total as well, still looking like one of the best players in the conference.

There was a whole lot that took place, so here are my thoughts and observations from the enormous victory.

1. The IBOB delivered again.

The Iron Bowl of Basketball has become one of the best rivalries in the sport as of late, and once again it delivered a weird, wacky, thrilling game for fans to witness.

The madness started before the game even tipped off. Alabama students waited outside in the pouring rain hours before the game started, and got the student section filled to the brim with an hour to go until tipoff. Social media star Roll Tide Willie made an appearance in the student section, screaming his iconic tagline that bolstered the energy even more. 

ESPN's Jay Williams called the game, who last time he was in Coleman Coliseum made a comment that the crowd sounded like it was a tennis match. He was booed by the Alabama student section as he entered, and he embraced the fun by taking a picture with the students.

Ready for tonight's m̶a̶t̶c̶h̶ 𝗚𝗔𝗠𝗘 🎾#RollTide | @RealJayWilliams pic.twitter.com/9i2G2CfLkg

— Alabama Men’s Basketball (@AlabamaMBB) January 25, 2024

And all of that happened before the ball even tipped off. Then, Alabama's lighting went dim, and the game played an entire possession without full lighting. Auburn ended the possession with a 3-point make and a 3-0 lead. The lighting issue caused a roughly 15 minute delay, which only pumped the building with even more juice.

The delay ended and the game finally started, and it had it's own fair share of weird moments. In the second half, Grant Nelson airballed his second three of the game, only to follow it up literal seconds later with an and-one reverse dunk.

Latrell Wrightsell got his layup pinned off the backboard, and seconds later found himself with the ball on the wing and knocked down a three. 

The game was back-and-forth all night long, like two heavyweight fighters throwing punches that left both faces bloodied and bruised. Each team landed their fair share of punches, and it led to a one-possession game in the final minute, like every IBOB should be. 

The intensity in the building was through the cavernous roof. The place was packed, but it wasn't all in crimson. Auburn fans bought up a number of the tickets in the upper levels, creating a unique echoing effect when "Let's go Auburn" chants broke out from the rafters. 

Obscenities were used. Wild sequences occurred. If you'd never seen a college basketball game before, you'd think it was one of the most entertaining things you've ever watched. 

In reality, it was par for the course when these two teams match up.

2. Rylan Griffen's bench spark helps weather early storm.

When starting lineups were posted on the Coleman Coliseum scoreboard, Rylan Griffen's name was missing. 

Instead, Oats opted to start Latrell Wrightsell in his place, in order to aid the Crimson Tide's recent turnover problem. Griffen had five turnovers in Alabama's loss to Tennessee on Saturday, while Wrightsell averaged the least amount of turnovers of any guard in the rotation.

The change didn't exactly go smoothly. Auburn started the game up 12-4, and the Crimson Tide had nothing going offensively. After the first media timeout, Griffen was inserted into the lineup, and he caught fire.

He proceeded to hit his first four shots from the field, all from 3-point range, igniting both the Alabama team and the Coleman Coliseum crowd, who was previously shell shocked about the slow start.

Griffen finished the game with 17 points, making five of his 10 attempts from downtown. He was the Crimson Tide's second leading scorer for the game, behind Sears.

"I like challenges, I took the challenge," Griffen said after the game. "I hope I played good. I don't really care, though. We won."

Griffen said he was told he was going to come off the bench on Tuesday, and Oats said he called and talked to former Alabama point guard Jahvon Quinerly, who rotated between starting and coming off the bench multiple times during his Crimson Tide tenure, and won SEC 6th Man of the Year last season.

"Rylan was really good off the bench. We needed him," Oats said. "He's all about the team and whatever he needs to do to help the team win. [...] I think Rylan had the right attitude, just come in and be ready to go."

3. Grant Nelson made plays late.

One of the most well-documented aspects of Alabama's season has been the up-and-down nature of Grant Nelson's play. He started off as a force, but as the Crimson Tide has started to play tougher competition, he seemed to have lost all confidence in his offensive game.

That trend continued against Auburn. Nelson missed his first four shots from the field, including a layup at point-blank range. He airballed two shots, and looked like he was completely in his own head. 

Then, something clicked. Nelson threw down the aforementioned reverse dunk, which was for the Crimson Tide's first points of the second half, and while it wasn't pretty, made effort play after effort play down the stretch. 

Nelson finished the game with 14 points on 3-of-8 shooting from the field, and a very important 8-for-9 from the free throw line, many of which helped put the game away late in the second half. he added 11 rebounds, which marked his first double-double in an Alabama uniform.

He made two of the biggest plays in the second half: an offensive rebound that led to a foul to put him on the free throw line, and a putback dunk to extend Alabama's lead to two possessions down the stretch.

After the game, Nelson credited Griffen for challenging him during a timeout to play tougher. 

"It was great that Rylan stepped up," Oats said. "I mean, he basically told Grant, 'We need you. We need you to play tough. You're good enough. We need you. Step it up.' He stepped up."

Oats went on to talk about how the best teams are player-led, and how Griffen took a big step in his leadership with his challenge to Nelson. Nelson's response is one of the main reasons Alabama was able to come away with a win, and he remains the X-factor as Alabama's season continues.

When Nelson performs at a high level, there aren't many teams who can beat the Crimson Tide.

4. Alabama establishes itself among the SEC's elite.

After the 20-point loss to Tennessee, there were some questions about whether Alabama truly belonged in the conversation with the teams at the top of the SEC. After all, Alabama didn't yet have an elite-caliber win, and had lost to all of the top teams it had played.

That narrative has changed now. Alabama not only took down the only team that was still undefeated in conference play, but it secured a win over a team that's top-5 in KenPom, top-8 in the NET, and top-8 in the AP Poll.

The Crimson Tide now has a signature win for its resume to hang its hat on, and also has vaulted itself right back into the conversation for the SEC regular season title.

Alabama and Auburn both sit at the top of the SEC with a 5-1 record. Tennessee is 4-1, while South Carolina, Georgia and Kentucky are all 4-2. With the win, Alabama remains in the hunt for what appears like an extremely tight race for the regular season throne.

What's more, Alabama has now proved to both its fans, and itself that it can not just compete with an elite team, like it did with Purdue, Arizona, and plenty of others in December, but it can beat one. 

There's no doubt this team will be ranked in the AP Poll next week, and the team already ranks in the top-10 in both KenPom and the NET. Now, let's sit back and watch to see if this win propels this team to greater heights than any of us thought a couple months ago.

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