Alabama basketball has a daunting task ahead of it. The Crimson Tide must pick up the pieces after Saturday’s game against Auburn, a 94-85 loss at Coleman Coliseum where Nate Oats’ team struggled defensively and couldn’t find offensive consistency.

The Tide will have to go through a rough slate to end the regular season on a high note. No teams outside of the top 25 appear on Alabama’s schedule to finish out.

“We got six tough games,” Oats said after the loss. “We gotta be ready for every last one of them. We talk a lot about adversity. Sometimes it makes you better.”

Alabama travels to Missouri Wednesday, before facing Kentucky at home Saturday. After that, home games against Mississippi State and Florida sandwich a road trip to Tennessee.

At the end of it all, another crack at Auburn. That one will be outside the confines of Coleman Coliseum, at Neville Arena.

Oats recalled a book, The Obstacle Is the Way by Ryan Holiday, which he had read with the Crimson Tide staff in the past. The book describes a way to turn challenges into opportunities, inspired by principles of stoicism.

“No teams are any good that don’t face a little adversity,” Oat said. “Every goal that we’ve got remaining, is still in our control, and that’s gotta be the mindset. Nobody’s feeling good today. We just lost to our archrival. Had a chance in our own gym to do it. Brought (ESPN’s College) Gameday in here. It was a great environment. That’s why we play, love these games. But we came out with an L, so how do we respond?”

Alabama has problems to fix moving forward. Its defense has been inconsistent all season, and allowed 1.27 points per possession Saturday, which will hardly do the trick if the offense continues to struggle.

The Crimson Tide only shot 39% from the field against Auburn as well, and hit just five of its 26 threes. If Oats’ group is to finish well and achieve its postseason goals, things must be cleaned up quickly.

“I told them, this is real-life stuff,” Oats said. “Shots aren’t dropping. Something happens in life. (Are you a) frontrunner, where you’ve only got the right attitude when stuff’s going well? Or have you got enough character, enough intestinal fortitude to play just as hard when stuff’s (not) going well? Or you’re giving everything you’ve got to your job when stuff’s not going well at home. Whatever it is, these are life lessons that we’ve gotta learn.”

Alabama and Missouri are scheduled to tip off at 8 p.m. CT Wednesday in Columbia. The game will be aired on the SEC Network.