Alabama Falls In Gainesville For Second Straight Loss

For the fourth time in SEC play, Alabama loses on the road in blowout fashion this time by a final score of 105-87 to the Florida Gators.

"Disappointing loss. First time we have had back to back losses in conference play in a couple of years around here," said Alabama head coach Nate Oats. "But have to be able to bounce back on Saturday."

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After trailing by just nine at the half, the floodgates opened in the second half as the Gators outscored Alabama by nine in a second half that was never particularly competitive.

Coming off the emotional home loss to Tennessee, the Crimson Tide looked drained and ran into a motivated Florida not only looking to avenge a previous loss to Alabama but also a loss to South Carolina a few days ago.

Alabama, one of the country's leaders in transition points, was outscored 27-8 in fast break points. Florida had 10 steals and beat Alabama's defense down the floor consistently leading to easy baskets.

"We looked like we were tired tonight," said Oats. "We didn't do a great job in transition, our guys weren't getting back."

If Florida didn't make their shot it was likely they either grabbed the offensive rebound or were fouled and headed to the free throw line. The Gators shot 46 free throws, making 40, compared to Alabama netting 20 out of 25.

"It's not a recipe for winning games when you get doubled up at the free throw line," said Oats.

Two Alabama big men, Grant Nelson and Sam Walters, fouled out of the game while Mohammed Dioubate and Nick Pringle both had four. Whether it was post touches or drives by guards, Alabama was physically pushed around where their only defense was fouling.

The success for the Gators didn't start on the offensive side however as they scored just 15 points through the first 10+ minutes of the game, but they held the Crimson Tide to just 12 during that same span. Florida ran Alabama's shooters off the three-point line, allowing only 23 three-point attempts. Alabama averages 32 three-point attempts per game.

The Crimson Tide rattled home one three-pointer in the entire first half and four in the second half, all by guard Mark Sears. Alabama is just 14 of 60 from behind the arc in the last two games.

"They did a good job running us off the line, being super physical," said Oats. "We probably took a couple of bad ones and weren't shooting them well."

Sears finished with 33 points, 29 coming in the second half after an uncharacteristic first half where he attempted just five shots coincided with 15 in the second half. Sears's backcourt partner Aaron Estrada scored 17 on eight of 14 shooting.

One bright spot for Alabama was the return of guard Latrell Wrightsell, who had been absent from the lineup since the first Florida matchup. He played just eight minutes, but it was a nice way to ease him back into live action.

"Made a good step in the right direction," said Oats. "We got him some game reps, trying to get him back in game shape so he can play more and more."

Alabama is now 5-10 when allowing 80+ points and the chances of a share of the SEC regular season title are all but extinct. However, the Crimson Tide have three days rest before the final regular season bout versus Arkansas on Saturday and then will get a much-needed six-day break before the SEC tournament quarterfinals begin the following Friday.