Nate Oats took the clipboard from the assistant and smacked it onto the court, spiking it like a volleyball.

In doing so, he earned a technical foul while embodying the emotion most, if not all, Alabama men’s basketball fans felt about the Missouri game.

The Tigers took an early lead and never gave it up the rest of the way, capitalizing on the Crimson Tide’s defensive woes. As a result, No. 15 Missouri upset No. 4 Alabama 110-98 on Wednesday at Mizzou Arena.

That marked back-to-back losses for the Crimson Tide for the first time all season.

Here are three takeaways from the game between Alabama (21-5, 10-3 SEC) and Missouri (20-6, 9-4).

Another slow start stings Alabama

The Crimson Tide looked stunned. And for good reason.

The game had barely started, and Missouri already led 12-0. The Tigers kicked things off with back-to-back triples and had 12 points before 2:30 had even passed.

Missouri averaged about two points per possession over the first five minutes of the game and before long had a 16-4 lead thanks to a 3-pointer from Mark Mitchell. The Tigers started the game 6-for-8 from deep.

Missouri’s hot start cooled off somewhat as the first half progressed, but it put Alabama in a precarious position. The Crimson Tide had to shake off the early blitz from the Tigers to try and gain some traction, already facing a sizable deficit.

It felt all too similar to the slow start a few days prior when No. 1 Auburn grabbed a 9-0 lead it eventually turned into a victory.

Alabama fought back against Missouri, scoring 46 points by halftime on 61% shooting (17-for-28) overall and 50% shooting (6-for-12) from deep. But the defense wasn’t getting enough stops. Plus, Alabama tallied 10 first-half turnovers. All of it combined to make life difficult as the Crimson Tide had to try to overcome yet another slow start. Alabama trailed by as much as 20 at one point in the first half.

Missouri led 59-46 at the break.

Mark Sears tries to lead rally

To have a shot at pulling back into the game, Alabama was going to need someone to step up. Enter Mark Sears.

The guard went to work midway through the second half. He scored three straight buckets over about 90 seconds to pull Alabama within six points, down 79-73, with 9:51 to go. At that point in the second half, Sears had tallied 12 points and missed only one shot in the second half while not turning the ball over during the course of the first 10 minutes after the break.

Sears’ efforts on the offensive end of the floor gave Alabama a shot. The problem is, the Crimson Tide defense didn’t match him.

Sears finished the game with 35 points, making 12 of 20 field goals and 5 of 11 3-pointers. He scored 21 of his points

Alabama defense can’t get stops

The defense always seemed to get in the way of Alabama climbing back into the game. Or rather, the defense didn’t get in the way of Missouri’s offense near enough.

For example, and there could be many listed: When Sears brought the Crimson Tide within striking distance in the second half down only six, the Tigers went on a 9-0 run.

Alabama seldom, if ever, had answers to Missouri’s offense. The Tigers scored and scored and scored all night. It was bad in the first half and didn’t get any better in the second.

The lack of stops prevented Alabama from completing a comeback. And then free throws pushed Missouri to the victory.

This loss falls on the defense.

Nick Kelly is an Alabama beat writer for AL.com and the Alabama Media Group. Follow him on X and Instagram.