Alabama
21-4,10-2SEC
#1 Auburn
23-2,11-1SEC
No. 2/1 Alabama Falls to No. 1/2 Auburn
2/15/2025 7:21:00 PM | Men's Basketball
The Crimson Tide falls for the second time at home
TUSCALOOSA, Ala. – The Alabama men's basketball team fell to No. 1/2 Auburn Saturday afternoon, 94-85, inside Coleman Coliseum for its second home loss of the season. The Crimson Tide put up 52 points in the second half, but were unable to overcome multiple offensive runs by the Tigers.
The Crimson Tide (21-4, 10-2 SEC) was led offensively by Mark Sears' 18 points and Grant Nelson's 12 points, along with Labaron Philon and Aden Holloway's 10 points each to contribute to the 32-point effort from the bench.
Auburn (23-2, 11-1 SEC) was led by Johni Broome's 19 points, off 7-for-16 shooting from the field, to go along with a game-high 14 rebounds and six assists.
Head Coach Nate Oats Postgame Comments
"Obviously it's a disappointing loss. Give Auburn a lot of credit. They're the number one team in the country for a reason. They (Auburn) did a great job, I thought, on the defensive end, trying to take away our threes. We didn't shoot it very well, they contested them. They did a good job contesting our shots at the rim too. They got us off the three-point line to push us in. We had under 50 percent at the rim, can't do that. We didn't convert at the free throw line. As well as their guards did, look at their guards, they were 19-of-21 from the line. Between our free throws, not finishing at the rim, and not getting off as many threes off, and then not making them anywhere close to the level that they made them at, it ends up making the difference."
"I told the guys afterwards, when we got beat at home by Tennessee last year on College Gameday, I thought we had a major letdown of leadership on the team. We got to have better leadership this year. We're not in full control of our own destiny to win the league outright, but we're under full control of our own destiny to at least get a tie for the league moving forward. It's not an easy stretch, but the last seven games, I think, are the hardest seven game stretch of anyone in the country at any given point. We got three home games and three road games left in the last six games of the year and we have to bring it. So, our mindset has to be better than they were last year after the home loss after College Gameday was here."
Team Stats
- Alabama won the rebound battle 49-40 despite the loss, with Nelson and Omoruyi grabbing a dozen each
- The Crimson Tide put up 52 points in the second half, compared to its 33 in the first period
- The bench unit totaled 32 points, off a combined 10-for-24 shooting from the field
- Nate Oats' squad scored 19 of its points on the fast break, compared to Auburn's 13
- Alabama shot 27-for-70 (39 percent) from the field, 5-for-26 (19 percent) from three, and 26-for-35 (74 percent) from the charity stripe
First HalfÂ
- Both squads shot a combined eight three-pointers in the first two minutes of action, but Auburn sank three of its attempts to open up the game on a 9-0 run
- After falling to a double-digit deficit, the Crimson Tide responded by going on a 9-0 run across 3:23 to make it a one-point game with just over 13 minutes remaining (14-13)
- Auburn found some momentum once again as it proceeded to sink its next five foul shots in a row to go along with a pair of layups to bloom the lead to a nine-point margin once more
- However, the Crimson Tide bench unit sparked a 9-0 run, led by Holloway and Reid's three-pointers, to bring Alabama back within one-point again at the 7:29 mark (26-25)
- After trading baskets for the next three minutes, the Tigers remained in control at the final media timeout of the half (35-29)
- The game of runs continued all the way to the end of the first half as Auburn went on a quick 5-0 run over the final two minutes to hold a 42-33 lead at the break
- Grant Nelson led the team in scoring at the half with six points, off 2-for-7 shooting from the field to go along with seven rebounds
- The Crimson Tide bench unit contributed 15 of Alabama's 33 points in the first period, with Philon, Reid and Dioubate having four each
- Alabama shot 11-for-35 (31 percent) from the field, 2-for-15 (13 percent) from three, and shot 9-for-13 (69 percent) from the charity stripe
Second HalfÂ
- Auburn kicked off the second half by sinking five of its first seven shots from the field to take a 55-41 lead at the first media timeout
- From there, the Tigers' claimed its biggest lead of the game at the 13:43 mark with a 15-point margin (59-45)
- The Crimson Tide clawed its way back into the game after a 13-4 run, featuring an alley-oop slam by Clifford Omoruyi and a three by Youngblood, cutting the Auburn lead down to three points (63-60)
- Alabama eventually overcame the 15-point deficit and tied everything up at 65 apiece with 7:49 left to play
- Auburn responded with an 11-3 run following the media timeout to take a 79-71 advantage on the scoreboard with 4:43 remainingÂ
- The Tigers remained in control for the final four minutes of action to take the 94-85 victory
- Sears led Alabama in scoring in the second half, putting up 13 points in 18 minutes of action
- The Crimson Tide scored 52 points in the final half, shooting 16-for-35 from the field and hitting 17 of its 22 attempts from the free throw line
Up Next
- Alabama will begin a short road trip next week to take on the Missouri Tigers on Wednesday, Feb. 19.Â
- Tipoff is set for 8 p.m. CT and will be televised on the SEC Network
