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Playing for third place in the Emerald Coast Classic in Niceville, Fla., isn’t what No. 17 Alabama envisioned before the tournament began.
However, that’s the situation for the Crimson Tide (4-1), who were upset 92-81 by Ohio State on Friday. Alabama will face Oregon on Saturday afternoon in a matchup of the two Friday losing teams.
Oregon (4-1) fell 88-82 to Santa Clara in the second opening-round game.
The Crimson Tide entered their contest leading the nation in scoring (101.8 points per game) and 3-point shooting (48.9 percent). On Friday, however, they made just 9 of 30 (30 percent) from long range.
Alabama was held to 33 points before halftime while giving up 38 to Ohio State. The first number was a season low and the second was a season high.
Forward Grant Nelson led Alabama across the board with 20 points, six rebounds and three blocked shots. Former Ducks player Aaron Estrada added 19 points, and Mark Sears had 17 to go with four assists, four rebounds and three steals.
“We’ve been saying for the four regular-season games and both scrimmages that our defense isn’t where it needs to be,” Alabama coach Nate Oats said. “This certainly was not a good defensive game for us, but (the Buckeyes are) a good team and played us tough.
“They had two players combine for 52 points and go 19 of 20 from the foul line. They had 30 foul shots as a team. You can’t put teams on the free throw line as much as we did, so there is a lot to learn from. We have to be better on defense at this level.”
Ohio State hit 54 percent of its field-goal attempts and 10 of 18 shots from 3-point range.
Oregon trailed by 11 points with 2:04 to play in its Friday game but cut the deficit to four with 49 seconds left on a 3-pointer by Brennan Rigsby. It wasn’t enough, as the Ducks were playing short-handed without their best player, center N’Faly Dante, and another big man, Nate Bittle.
This week it was revealed that Bittle had wrist surgery and will be re-evaluated in eight weeks. Dante, who made the All-Pac-12 squad last season, had knee surgery and will miss at least four weeks. In his lone game this season, Dante amassed 16 points and 21 rebounds in a win over Georgia.
Keeshawn Barthelemy led Oregon with 17 points against Santa Clara, and Kwame Evans Jr. added 16. Oregon missed 9 of 21 free throws and was outrebounded 39-36.
Friday marked Alabama’s first game not played in Tuscaloosa. The Ducks have played just twice at home in Eugene, Ore., as their season opener was in Las Vegas (the victory over Georgia) and their past two games were in Florida.
Oregon and Alabama have met four previous times, each game in a different location. The Ducks have won three straight meetings — at home in Eugene in 2016; in Birmingham, Alabama, in 2015, and at the Maui Invitational in Hawaii in 2008. The Crimson Tide won in Las Vegas in 2003.
–Field Level Media
