Alabama moved to 0-2 in conference play today with a 71-67 overtime loss to Arkansas in Fayetteville.
Slow out of the gate, Alabama trailed by several points most of the way, and never led in regulation. Nevertheless, Alabama rallied late in regulation, and the rally was capped by a three-pointer from Mykal Riley, which forced overtime. Once in overtime, the Tide showed life, and led with under two minutes to play. Immediately thereafter, however, Arkansas hit a three, and then had a three point play in which Riley fouled out, and that essentially ended it for the Tide.
The inability to shoot the basketball again was a major problem for Alabama in a close game, with the Tide shooting only 55% from the free throw line, and only 33% from the floor. Mix that with a mediocre-at-best defense, and you can do the figurative math. At some point you either have to be able to shoot the ball well and score a lot of points, or play good defense, and we can seemingly do neither with any degree of consistency.
Up next on the schedule is a solid Georgia team in Athens, which will be a tough game for the Tide, and after that Mississippi State comes to town, yet another tough draw. The winless drought in conference play could continue a while longer.
And now, here are your updated SEC West standings from the "experts" at ESPN:
Who knew?