Alabama vs. Oklahoma score, takeaways: No. 2 Crimson Tide falls flat in shocking blowout loss to Sooners

A chaotic begin to the faculty basketball slate on Saturday after the No. 12, No. 13 and No. 15-ranked groups all misplaced to unranked opponents continued into the afternoon slate with a stunner as unranked Oklahoma walloped No. 2 Alabama 93-69 in the SEC/Big 12 Challenge in Norman, Oklahoma. OU led for all however 29 seconds inside its personal area with a dominant displaying on each ends to ship residence the red-hot Crimson Tide with their greatest dropping margin since Nate Oats took over this system.

Alabama (18-3) has this season completed comparable issues to its opponents that OU (12-9) did to it on Saturday — the Tide’s scoring margin coming into the day was No. 3 amongst all energy convention applications — after a current streak to open the 2023 calendar yr in which it beat Ole Miss, Kentucky, Arkansas and LSU by a median of 25.8 factors per sport. 

OU had nearly every little thing working for it in opposition to the Tide after coming into the day on a three-game dropping streak in which just about nothing was going proper. Nevada switch guard Grant Sherfield was the accelerant that poured gasoline on the blowout fireplace with a season-high 30 factors to go together with six assists. He obtained loads of assist, too, with Jalen Hill pouring in 26 factors and the crew taking pictures a mixed 9 of 13 from 3-point vary in opposition to an Alabama protection that ranked No. 2 nationally in 3-point taking pictures proportion allowed on the season.

On protection is the place the struggle was received for OU pitted in opposition to an Alabama offense that performs with as a lot tempo and possesses as a lot explosive scoring capacity as any in the nation. Bama freshman Brandon Miller, who got here in averaging 19.5 ppg, was held to 11 factors on 4-of-14 taking pictures whereas the crew completed 6 of twenty-two from past the arc.

Here are just a few takeaways from the sport.

Tide stays projected No. 1 seed in Bracketology

A loss to an unranked crew — and by a whopping 24 factors — does not precisely encourage confidence in its prospects shifting ahead. But the Crimson Tide’s standing as a projected No. 1 seed in March Madness stays unchanged, in accordance to CBS Sports Bracketology Expert Jerry Palm, who says regardless of the loss they are going to for now stay because the No. 2 total seed in his projected bracket.

“Going into this weekend, there has been some separation at the top of the bracket between the top two teams, Purdue and Alabama, and the rest of the field,” Palm mentioned. “It’s not the gap we had in 2021 when Baylor and Gonzaga dominated college basketball, but it’s a noticeable gap nonetheless. Alabama’s blowout loss at Oklahoma has closed that gap some, but the strength of the Crimson Tide’s resume, which includes six Quad 1 wins and seven wins over teams in the current bracket projection, is still sufficient for them to remain No. 2 overall for now.”

Hill, Sherfield duo is dynamic for OU

Hill had a career-high 26 factors and Sherfield got here one level in need of matching a career-high with 30 factors for Oklahoma. The duo mixed to make 20 of OU’s 34 discipline objectives in the profitable effort and got here out sturdy with a mixed 31 factors in the primary half — two fewer than Bama scored in the primary half as a crew. Their scoring opened up alternatives for straightforward seems to be elsewhere too with Tanner Groves getting a simple 14 and 9 totally different gamers making at the very least one bucket in the trouble. 

Alabama’s Miller goes quiet in loss

The key to opening up Alabama’s offense this season has centered across the scoring and taking pictures of Miller, who in opposition to OU was held to 11 factors — his lowest output in 10 video games and third-lowest scoring complete in a sport all season — on 14 complete photographs. He obtained little or no assist from his teammates — the crew shot 37.9% from the sector — however his being bottled up by OU could lay the blueprint for a way to tactically choose aside this dynamic Alabama crew shifting ahead.