Alabama’s takes its first bad loss on the season at home 92-88 as this loss hurt its chances to get a top four seed in the NCAA tournament and makes Bama just 1-2 in the SEC and 11-5 on the season. Bama is on the struggle bus in SEC play. What the heck?? After a big loss to TN, Texas came in hungry and motivated and put it to Alabama. They were aggressive all night on both ends of the court. Coach of Texas Sean Miller gave it to his players before the game challenging them to step up and play hard and play well or they could find another school. His team responded as he hoped and took it to Alabama. • Final Score: Texas defeated Alabama 92-88 [1]. Stars of the Game LaBaron Philon with 21 and Aden Holloway with 18 Other notables: Amari Allen with 11 pts, 5 rebs, 4 assists, 2 steals, and 4 blocks Aiden Sherrell with 13 pts, 5 rebs, 1 steal, and 1 block TBB with 11 pts, 10 rebs, and 2 blocks Jemison with 9 pts, 5 rebs, 2 assists, 1 steal, and 1 block MIA’s Keitenn Bristow – what has happened to him, no impact Noah Williamson - little impact with 2 pts, 3 rebs, and 1 block Houston Mallette – no impact with 2 rebs and no pts Jalil Bethea – 3 pts and no other stats in 4 mins Emphasis on guarding Philon hard and not leaving him to help. Also doubling him on drives to the basket to force contested shots, force turnovers, or force the ball out of his hands. Kept a defender at the rim to challenge Holloway and others at the rim. Key Team Stats Bama missed key free throws down the stretch and was 19-27 from the free throw line Although Tx missed 10 FT’s, Tx scored 22 FT’s to Bama’s 19. Tx outrebounded Bama by 10 48-38 Tx scored 36 pts in paint to Bama’s 32 pts. Small things led to the Bama loss. When it mattered most in the last four minutes of the game, Tx got the defensive stops, made enough free throws, and scored in the post. Also, Alabama didn’t run its offense effectively to get good shots from 2 or from 3 when needed. Too many highly contested shots from two and from three that Alabama could not make This loss stings badly and puts Bama in a bad position if they want to be a top four seed in the NCAA tournament. Issue – Costly turnovers by Philon. And Philon has to be better on defense. He seems to be OK, but nothing special on defense at times this year. Not being a shutdown defender. Holloway also was getting beat too much by the man he was guarding. Bama fell behind by 13 pts in the first half before cutting the margin to 1 at half and then by 11 pts in the 2nd half before getting it back to just 1 late in the game. But Bama didn’t have enough to grab the lead and when. Bama cannot keep falling behind in the games and then try to dig themselves out of these holes. Ball movement on offense is not always good. Need to move the ball better and find better shots from both 3 and from 2. Lack of low-post offense threat – None of the Bama post players can easily or efficiently in the low post. It is a problem and probably cannot be fixed this season. And Bama cannot win a natty without low post scoring threat and having an effective low post scorer. Got no production from Mallette, Bethea, or Bristow and little from Williamson although no one expects much from him game to game. Alabama is now 11-5 on the season and 1-2 in the SEC. Bama needs to figure some things out and get back to winning or their seeding in the NCAA will keep sliding. And let’s hope it doesn’t get so bad that they risk not making the tournament. Bama is not playing like a final four or even sweet 16 team if you judge them by the way Bama played against Texas. Up next: Alabama goes on the road to Mississippi State on Tuesday, Jan 13 at 8 pm. Look for Bama to rebound and play better. But this loss is worrisome. Bama must play better if they want to be a sweet 16 team again this year.