When Boogie Coleman launched a fadeaway three-pointer from the right corner while falling out of bounds and the ball splashed through the net, it looked like it might just be Missouri's night. The three-pointer marked the fourth triple of the game for Coleman and the tenth for the Tigers, marking the first time all season they made double-digit three-point shots.
Missouri entered its second matchup of the season against Alabama shooting just 25.8 percent from three-point range, the worst mark among all high-major teams. Yet the Tigers made 11 of 24 triples, including starting the second half six-of-seven from deep. That helped the Tigers take another early lead against the Crimson Tide and hold it for nearly 35 minutes.
But ultimately, the shots stopped falling and Missouri couldn't slow down Alabama's guards on the other end. The Crimson Tide stormed back to win 86-76. Alabama finished the game on an 18-3 run.
"We were good matching buckets the whole half, and then about the last seven minutes, 10 minutes, we stopped scoring," Coleman said, "and that’s when they went on their run to end the game.”
It wasn't quite the final 10 minutes that things spiraled for Missouri, but in the final six, the Tigers made only one shot and mustered just three points.
The loss drops the Tigers to 8-10 on the season and 2-4 in SEC play. It marks the second time in the past three games that the team has lost despite leading a game for more than 33 minutes.
Here are five things we learned from the loss.
1. Cuonzo Martin attributed Alabama's late-game run to breakdowns on both sides of the ball. When Missouri had possession, the Crimson Tide switched everything with their five guard lineup, and the Tigers couldn't find an answer. On the other end, Martin said his players simply didn't do a good enough job of staying in front of the Alabama guards.
Both Coleman and Martin brought up Alabama going to five guards and ratcheting up the defensive pressure as a turning point in the game. The Tide disrupted the Tiger possessions early by picking up ball-handlers around mid-court, and Missouri struggled to find a rhythm as a result. A Tiger offense that turned the ball over three times in the first 27 minutes of the game gave it up eight times in the final 13. Missouri finished the game making five of its last 18 shots.
"Offensive side of the ball, you’re pressured, switching everything, and then what happened, they have us outside of the three-point line," Martin explained. "We weren’t as aggressive, we became passive, as opposed to driving the ball."
Meanwhile, Alabama's high-octane offense kicked into gear late. The Crimson Tide scored 30 points in the final 10 minutes of the game, including scoring points on five of their final six possessions. A three-headed backcourt attack sparked the revival. Jahvon Quinerly scored all 13 of his points after halftime, while Jaden Shackelford and J.D. Davidson each chipped in 11 after the break.
Martin acknowledged the difficulty of stopping Alabama's guards, but said Missouri's defensive effort late in the game wasn't good enough.
"You have to fight to get stops," he said. "Yeah, Quinerly is tough off the dribble, Shackelford’s a tough player, but you have to buckle down, fight be gritty and get stops. You have to do that."
2. It didn't help that Alabama dominated Missouri on the glass in the second half.
Both before and after the first meeting of this season between these two teams, Martin harped on the importance of controlling the boards against Alabama, particularly on the defensive end of the floor. The Tigers held their own in that regard during the first half. But down the stretch, Alabama generally had its way on the glass, despite going with smaller personnel.
Overall, the Crimson Tide out-rebounded the Tigers 22-10 in the second half. Nine of those boards came off their own misses, leading to 11 second-chance points. Alabama scored 24 second-chance points in the game, compared to 18 for Missouri.
Martin noted that Missouri's inability to stay in front of Alabama's guards created extra opportunities for Alabama to grab offensive rebounds, since an additional defender had to help contest shots rather than blocking out.
“When they got down, they probably just said just put your head down and get to the rim, we’ll crash the offensive glass," Martin said. "Everybody just crash the offensive glass. They won the battle."
The most painful example of Alabama's offensive rebounding costing Missouri came shortly after the final media timeout. Alabama got four shots on the possession, which ended with a James Rojas layup. The bucket stretched Alabama's lead to six points with less than three minutes to play.
"We were getting stops and they just kept getting the boards," Coleman said. "It’s hard to win games when you allow the team to get two or three chances each possession.”
3. Alabama wasn't going to let Kobe Brown beat it twice.
During the first meeting between the Tigers and Crimson Tide this season, Brown exploded for 30 points and 13 rebounds. Saturday, he grabbed 10 boards but managed just six points on 3-13 shooting. In five previous games in which he shot the ball 13 or more times, Brown averaged 19 points.
While Alabama routinely sent two defenders at Brown when he got the ball around the basket, Martin said Missouri needed more from its leading scorer.
"I thought Kobe needed to be more aggressive in and around the rim," Martin said. "Take the double, find the open man."
Missouri especially needed more from Brown late in the game. Both Martin and Coleman said that, once Alabama started switching five ways, the Tigers' offensive plan became get Brown in a mismatch. But Brown scored just two points in the second half.
"When they’re switching one through five, that’s when we feel like there’s an advantage, especially with Kobe," said Martin. "Get him in the post, get him off the blocks. ... He’s got to be assertive and be aggressive and make plays."
4. Martin came about as close as he has ever come to criticizing officials after a game. There was a reason for that.
The most glaring line in the final box score is the free throw disparity. Alabama attempted 29 free throws, making 21 of them. Missouri went just three-for-five from the stripe. That was a product of the Tigers getting whistled for 23 fouls compared to 13 for the home team.
"I’m trying to be as respectful as I can when I say this," Martin said, "but five free throws in a physical game when both teams play man to man in the SEC?”
Martin noted a few different ways the foul disparity factored into the final score. For one, with five different Tiger players finishing the game with four or five fouls, the team's defense naturally became less aggressive. Martin also felt like Alabama got away with a lot of contact when its defenders were harassing Missouri's ball-handlers around half court.
Coleman echoed his coach's sentiment that the foul disparity factored into the game, but he also didn't blame the loss solely on the officials.
"They were playing very aggressive, and the refs were letting them play on their end and they weren’t letting us play on ours, so it was kind of frustrating trying to play through it," Coleman said. "But that’s how the game went, so we gotta continue to play through it and just find a way to come out on top."
5. The silver lining for Missouri was the team's three-point shooting. Entering this week, the Tigers were shooting a woeful 25.1 percent from behind the arc. Yet for the second game in a row, the Tigers shot better than 45 percent from deep.
Coleman led the way with his shooting performance, knocking down five of nine three-point attempts. DaJuan Gordon and Ronnie DeGray each made two of three. At one point, from late in the first half to early in the second, Missouri made six shots in a row from three-point range.
Missouri's improved shooting percentage at Ole Miss resulted from the offense attempting fewer three pointers — just seven, the fewest since Martin took over as head coach. While the number of attempts ballooned against Alabama, Coleman said the shot selection was still largely good, which led to the Tigers converting a higher percentage.
“I would say got a little bit of better shot selection for the team, and then also the work that everybody is putting in on their jumper," Coleman said. "Everybody is playing confident, and that’s what we need, for sure. But I feel like more so the shot selection is helping them make their shots better.”
Star of the Game: Coleman was perhaps the biggest reason Missouri led by double-digits for more than half of the game and also a reason why its offense struggled down the stretch. Coleman's 17 points led the way for the Tigers, and he also logged four rebounds, three assists and two steals. But Coleman also turned the ball over five times, four of which came in the game's final 12:13.
Room for Improvement: Closing out games. Martin said this loss felt different than the one a week ago, but it's difficult not to notice the similarities. Missouri jumped out to an early double-digit lead over Texas A&M and led for 35:17 before surrendering the lead with 4:47 to play. Against Alabama, the Tigers led for 33:21, until the 5:12 mark in the second half. It's fair to point out that Alabama is a good team, ranked No. 16 by KenPom, and there's no shame in losing to a team that talented on the road. But the late-game skids have started to form a pattern that bears monitoring.
What it means: Not a ton. Yes, it would be nice to take advantage of the team's best three-point shooting performance of the season and to close the deal after leading for nearly the entire game, but ultimately, splitting the season series against Alabama one win apiece has to be considered a success for Missouri.
Next up: Missouri returns home for an even tougher test. No. 2 Auburn, fresh off an 80-71 win over Kentucky, will travel to Mizzou Arena on Tuesday. Tipoff is set for 7:30 p.m.
Quotable: “Give them credit. We didn’t lose this one, they won the game." -- Cuonzo Martin
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