Alabama basketball flips from SEC pretender to contender with win over Auburn

As recent as this past weekend, Alabama basketball didn't look the part of a true SEC contender.

A 20-point loss to Tennessee, albeit on the road, will have that effect.

Sure, Alabama (13-6, 5-1 SEC) has beat the teams it was expected to beat in SEC play. See Missouri and Vanderbilt, and even to an extent Mississippi State and South Carolina. But when it came to big games against top tier opponents, Alabama usually fell flat.

First there was the Ohio State game on Black Friday. Then there was the Clemson game at home. Then the Purdue game, the Creighton game and the Arizona game. All losses. Alabama proved competitive in the toughest of contests, but it couldn't find a way to finish any of them with a victory.

The Crimson Tide had losses that wouldn't hurt the NCAA Tournament resume much, but it didn't really have any kind of a signature victory.

Then Alabama beat No. 6 Auburn 79-75 on Wednesday at Coleman Coliseum. In one night, the Crimson Tide flipped the switch from an SEC pretender to a contender.

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"It shows we do have some fight," Alabama head coach Nate Oats said. "We do have some guys who have some competitive juices to them."

Some games and performances have led Oats to question that. He was doing so as recent as Tuesday.

"I am still trying to figure out, are we a competitive group that does what it takes to win?" Oats said Tuesday. "Or do we just got a lot of really talented players that fold when they're in the middle of tough games against good teams? I'm not sure yet. I hope we have some competitive guys."

Then Wednesday happened. Guard Latrell Wrightsell Jr. grabbed nine rebounds. Rylan Griffen accepted his role as a sixth man and sparked Alabama with 17 points and seven rebounds vs. Auburn (16-3, 5-1). Forward Jarin Stevenson stepped up with some quality minutes with the third-best plus-minus on the team. Forward Grant Nelson logged his first double-double of the season with 14 points and 11 rebounds.

Nelson's efforts at the end especially proved valuable. Even though he struggled at times during the game with a handful of air balls, he didn't give up. Nelson knocked down some crucial free-throws late and also had a colossal dunk in the final minute.

"We needed him to play like that," Oats said. "And he needed that for his confidence."

If Nelson can keep his confidence and play at the level he showed late in the second half, Alabama is going to win some more big games. And if the Crimson Tide can compete like it did, even when Auburn kept punching back, Alabama is going to have the opportunity to win the SEC again this season.

Of course, one win over a good team isn't going to do that. Plenty of work remains, and Oats made clear what he wanted to see cleaned up (turnovers) and that playing like Alabama did Wednesday won't likely be enough to beat Auburn on the road in two weeks.

Nonetheless, the Crimson Tide took an important step forward vs. the Tigers. Alabama showed it's actually a legitimate threat to defend its SEC title.

"This momentum, we had momentum going into the Tennessee game," Nelson said. "We kind of went in a little lackadaisical (vs. the Vols). I feel like we’re back. We’ve got to learn and grow on, but this was a huge win at home. We’re not done."

Nick Kelly is the Alabama beat writer for The Tuscaloosa News, part of the USA TODAY Network, and he covers Alabama football and men's basketball. Reach him at nkelly@gannett.com or follow him @_NickKelly on X, the social media app formerly known as Twitter.

This article originally appeared on The Tuscaloosa News: Alabama basketball vs. Auburn: Tide becomes contender with win