Alabama basketball lost back-to-back games for the first time all season and did not take the lead all game for the second game in a row.
Alabama basketball moved to 10-3 in the SEC with a 110-98 loss over Missouri on the road in a hostile atmosphere and cut it to as close as six late, but could not get enough stops.
A fire alarm got pulled before coach Nate Oats could speak with the media.
“Getting our guys ready to go is part of my job as a head coach, and I didn’t do a very good job of it tonight,” said Oats.
Alabama had 14 turnovers on the night with 16 assists.
The Tide had four scorers in double-digit scoring nights.
Alabama’s Mark Sears and coach Oats picked up a flagrant and a technical on the same possession, which led to Missouri scoring five points.
Takeaway #1: Alabama slow starts continue
Alabama dug itself yet another hole before the first media timeout, but this time started the game out down 12 to zero in the first 2:30 of the game and never really was able to recover. The team continued to have turnovers and finished with 10 turnovers in the first half.
Despite shooting 61% of the floor in the first half, the Tide were still down 13 because of the way Missouri was scoring the basketball, whether at the rim, at the free throw line, or from three.
The Tigers had 59 points at the half with three guys in double-figures with Anthony Robinson II with 12.
“We didn’t start the game out well,” said Oats.
Takeaway #2: Mark Sears big game on birthday
Despite the poor outing from the team, Mark Sears came out ready to play and got back to being efficient. The Senior shot 12-20 5-11 from three finishing with a season-high 35 points and was trying to will the team on his back.
Sears hit a big three with around 10 minutes to go to cut the game to six points, but Missouri had a response every time and had a 9-0 run to close the door of a potential comeback.
The team outside of Sears could not create other opportunities to score the ball besides Labaron Philon, who was inserted back into the starting lineup and had 14 points on 6-9 shooting.
Takeaway #3: Mark Mitchell and Caleb Grill Dominate
Mark Mitchell came out dominant in the post, dunking on guys and taking on double teams. Whatever the Tide threw at Mitchell defensively was not working finishing the game with 31 points on 11-15 shooting. The Duke transfer looked like the five-star out of High School.
Caleb Grill, who matched up with Alabama in 2020 at UNLV and dominated the Tide then, and did it again with 25 points on the bench 3-9 from three and 10-11 from the charity stripe. Grill was getting around screens and creating open baskets.
Next up for Alabama basketball (21-5, 10-3): vs. Kentucky (18-8, 8-6) – Feb. 22 at 6 p.m. EST
Next up for Missouri basketball (20-6, 9-4): at Arkansas (15-10, 4-8) – Feb. 22 at 8 p.m. EST