Comeback Attempt Falls Short as Alabama Loses Second Straight

Columbia, Mo. - Wednesday night provided a monumental matchup for Alabama. As the only two-loss team in conference play and firmly in second place in conference play, Alabama could remain in the hunt for an SEC regular season title with a victory in a Quad One game in Columbia, Missouri against top-15 Missouri.

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As Texas A&M learned on Tuesday night, it's hard to win on the road in the SEC, and Alabama got blasted by Missouri on the road in the SEC.

Despite shooting 50 percent from three-point range in the first half, Alabama faced a 13-point deficit as Missouri forced 10 turnovers (four from Mark Sears) while Missouri made five more attempts from the field than Alabama.

In the first half, Missouri scored 1.475 points per possession - one of the highest in the first half so far this season for Alabama.

The Crimson Tide, despite all the good things in the first half, looked to face insurmountable territory after the Tigers took a 9-0 lead within the first two minutes of the game.

No, that was not a misprint, Alabama let Missouri take a 9-0 lead (10-0 to be exact) within the first two minutes of the loss on Wednesday night - a plagiarism of the Auburn Tigers' start against Alabama on Saturday afternoon in Tuscaloosa.

And oh Lord, when it rains, it pours.

It didn't matter what Alabama did in the second half. Continue to shoot near 50 percent from three? It doesn't matter. Try to limit Caleb Grill? He scores almost 20 points in one half. Alabama cuts the deficit to single digits for the first time since the under-12-minute media timeout in the first half? Missouri scores five straight buckets as Alabama misses five straight to push the lead back to 15 points.

It was not for a lack of effort from the Crimson Tide's leading man - Mark Sears. Sears scores 30 points for the first time this season for Alabama, making 10 of 17 shots from the field and four of nine from three-point range to go along with five assists, two rebounds, and four turnovers on the night.

Despite the attempt by Alabama, the Crimson Tide got 100-pieced on the road. The most defense on the night for Alabama was played by Nate Oats clipboard, which was on the wrong side of a technical foul from the Alabama head coach in the first half.

The Crimson Tide continued its consistency this season, performing better offensively on the road compared to at home this season. Alabama shot 53.8% from the field and 41.9% from three in the losing contest to Missouri.

It's not a streak until it's two games, and Alabama is now on a losing streak. The loss to Missouri marks the third overall, and second consecutive loss for Alabama in conference play. Alabama drops to 21-5 overall and 10-3 in conference play. The next chance for Alabama to right the ship will come on Saturday, February 22 at home against Kentucky.

Final score:

Alabama - 98
Missouri - 110

Alabama Stat Leaders

Points: Mark Sears - 35
Rebounds: Mouhamed Dioubate - 10
Assists: Mark Sears - 5

Alabama Players in Double Digit Points

Mark Sears - 35
Labaron Philon - 14
Mouhamed Dioubate - 13

Wyatt Fulton is the TIde 100.9 DME and Brand Manager, primarily covering Alabama Crimson Tide football and men's basketball. For more Crimson Tide coverage, follow Wyatt on X (Formerly known as Twitter) at @FultonW_.