Alabama basketball couldn’t get the job done Wednesday against Florida, but Oklahoma did the work for the Crimson Tide. OU’s win over Missouri in Norman means the Crimson Tide has clinched a double-bye in the SEC Tournament.
The Tide fell 99-94 Wednesday in Coleman Coliseum to the Gators. Alabama would have needed a win over Auburn Saturday on the road to clinch the double-bye on its own.
Had Missouri won out and the Crimson Tide lost again on Saturday, the SEC’s northernmost Tigers would have earned the double-bye, with a head-to-head win over UA earlier this season. Instead, MU fell 96-84 to an Oklahoma team that entered Wednesday’s game with just four SEC victories.
Alabama and Tennessee will each either be the No. 3 or No. 4 seed in the SEC, depending on how the weekend’s results shake out. The Volunteers, who beat Alabama on Saturday, face off with South Carolina to close out the regular season.
The SEC Tournament begins next Wednesday at Bridgestone Arena in Nashville. The Missouri win means Alabama will not be playing until Friday.
In the meantime, Nate Oats was unhappy with the Crimson Tide’s performance in the loss to Florida. UA was outrebounded 50-35 by the Gators, who pulled in 16 offensive boards and scored 19 second chance points to score the victory.
“We gotta do better,” Oats said after the game. “Doesn’t matter what your game plan is if you can’t get back on defense and you can’t get rebounds. So we’re gonna have to figure it out before we go to Auburn.”
Alabama and Auburn are scheduled to tip off at 1:30 p.m. CT Saturday at Neville Arena, to end the regular season. The game will be aired on ESPN.
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