How Alabama basketball flopped at the finish in loss to UT

The start was easy enough.

What else but a Mark Sears 3-pointer to ignite an explosively loud Alabama basketball home crowd that had spent the day brewing with the excitement of the first-ever ESPN "College GameDay" visit to Tuscaloosa for hoops?

For the Crimson Tide to knock off rival Tennessee, however, a finish was required. And in a gutting 81-74 loss to the Volunteers on Saturday, with first place in the SEC at stake, its finish was a flop. Alabama's vaunted offense went largely quiet after building a 58-51 second-half lead with 11:50 remaining, going ice cold from that point forward in missing 18 of its last 21 field goal attempts.

At home, where shots have fallen for this team all season.

At home, where it hadn't lost a conference game all season.

At home, in front of its most electric crowd all season.

Alabama's often-troublesome defense held the SEC's leading scorer, UT's Dalton Knecht, to 13 points on 5-of-14 shooting. But in the critical closing minutes, with Tennessee clinging to a slim lead, it allowed the Volunteers' JosiahJordan James a crucial uncontested 3pointer from the left corner. Shortly after, Alabama's defense had to begin fouling to stop the clock, and Tennessee ended up pouring in 11 points over the final three minutes.

A sour finish on both ends of the floor. A shot at Alabama's third SEC regular-season championship in Oats' five years as coach largely slipped away in the process; the Volunteers (23-6, 13-3 SEC) now hold a four-finger grip on the top spot in the SEC with two games remaining and two head-to-head wins over the Crimson Tide (20-9, 12-4).

The disappointment in Nate Oats' voice came through even clearer than

out two batters to get the save. Johnson also came into close out Saturday's game vs. South Alabama and Arizona, where she pitched a combined 41⁄3 innings, allowing zero hits and striking out three. Beaver came in after Johnson to close out the final game vs. Arizona.

Alabama had four errors over the weekend and played its 10th error-free game of the season vs. Northern Iowa. It also made many impressive defensive stops, including back-to-back plays by second baseman Kali Heivilin, one which she made a diving stop and pass to first baseman Emma Broadfoot to close out an inning.

Too many runners left on base

In Alabama's four games at the TMobile Crimson Classic, it left a total of 23 combined runners on base, more than any of its opponents. It scored four runs across its four games but managed to out-hit its opponents 15-13.

Abby Duchscherer led the Alabama offense over the weekend, with a tworun home run and a single in Friday night's contest, where she went 2-for-3 from the plate for her sixth multi-hit game of the season. Heivilin and Marlie Giles each added solo home runs on the weekend.

"Offensively, we left too many runners on base," coach Patrick Murphy said following Friday night's win vs. Arizona. "But, Abby Duchscherer's home run was an absolute moonshot."

Left fielder and leadoff hitter Jenna Johnson saw her on-base streak extended to 14 games over the weekend for a new career-best. She leads the team with an on-base percentage of .509.

What's next for Alabama softball?

The Crimson Tide host their first SEC conference series next weekend when No. 13/15 Florida comes to Rhoads Stadium. Alabama will play three games against the Gators from Saturday-Monday.

Anna Snyder covers high school sports and University of Alabama softball and football recruiting for The Tuscaloosa News. Reach her at asnyder@gannett.com. Follow her on X, the social media platform formerly known as Twitter, @annaesnyder2