Will Alabama basketball win the SEC? What win vs. Georgia showed

Alabama basketball coach Nate Oats felt compelled to interject.

The Crimson Tide was huddled during a timeout with 10:15 left in the second half. Georgia held a 10-point lead in a game in which Alabama had struggled to gain much traction to that point, trailing by as much as 16 in the first half. Then one Crimson Tide player expressed optimism in the huddle.

We can win this game.

Oats, who said postgame he didn't know which player said it, disagreed with the statement.

No. Stop. We are going to win this game. There's no 'we can.' We are winning this game and here's how we're going to do it.

Then he described the plan: Get stops and get rebounds. Georgia scored the next bucket, but soon, Alabama started to draw closer and closer. Before five minutes had even passed, the Crimson Tide tied the game. Then less than a minute later, Alabama took the lead and never looked back.

The No. 22 Crimson Tide managed to pull off the second half comeback on the road, defeating Georgia 85-76 at Stegeman Coliseum in Athens, Georgia.

“Everybody that played that second half showed some toughness," Oats said. "Some character. Some grit. We grew up a lot tonight.”

The victory kept Alabama (15-6, 7-1 SEC) atop the conference standings, and it keeps winning the SEC very much so in play. As January comes to a close and the halfway point of SEC play approaches, the question is, will the Crimson Tide remain in the top spot?

Will Alabama actually win the SEC?

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That can't be answered with a 'yes' or 'no' on Jan. 31. That was the case even for last season's Alabama team that looked destined for a regular-season championship for much of conference play with frequent dominance.

But this season's edition of the Crimson Tide has been more difficult to figure out. It's a team that frequently mixes signs of progress and promise with indications of problems.

Is this an elite offensive team that is capable of a run in the NCAA Tournament? That answer would have been vastly different on Saturday vs. LSU from the one in the first half vs. Georgia. Fresh off 109 points vs. the Tigers, Alabama couldn't hit open shots before halftime vs. the Bulldogs, as the Crimson Tide went 2-for-11 from beyond the arc and 1-for-4 from the free-throw line.

Will Alabama figure out its defense and play to the level Oats seeks more often than not? Against Auburn, South Carolina and Mississippi State, that looked possible. Against LSU, it didn't much at all.

Can Alabama win big games away from Coleman Coliseum? So far, Mississippi State is the best road win Alabama has. Meanwhile it has road losses to the likes of Tennessee, Creighton and Arizona. All big games, all losses.

And does Alabama have the necessary intangibles? Does it display proper effort each possession? Does it have enough toughness? Each half of the Georgia game gave different answers. Before halftime, Georgia outrebounded Alabama 27-7. The Crimson Tide returned the favor with a 19-12 rebounding edge in the second half.

"The first four minutes, our effort has to be a lot better," guard Mark Sears said. "The first four minutes of this game, our effort was not where it needed to be."

The last four minutes it sure was. Sears and Grant Nelson served as the top catalysts for Alabama's finishing efforts. The two combined for 20 points in the final six minutes of the game.

"The two (3-pointers Nelson) had late in the game were huge," Oats said. "They sealed the game for us. He showed he’s a winner. He showed the moment doesn’t get too big for him and he doesn’t shy away from it. We’ve got a lot of guys I thought played hard."

Alabama has solid pieces, and the Crimson Tide continues to earn victories more often than not. Winning the SEC is not only an aspiration but also a legitimate possibility at this point.

Nonetheless, it will all come down to how Alabama answers the questions that haven't yet gone away.

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: Will Alabama basketball win the SEC? Tide has shown promise, issues