The main productive player for the Crimson requested a contract termination, explaining…

After LSU and the Crimson Tide squared off on the court two weeks ago, Matt McMahon’s assessment of the Alabama basketball team hasn’t altered.

McMahon’s team allowed 54 points in the first half of Alabama’s 109-88 victory against the Tigers on January 27 in Tuscaloosa, so the club’s 18-point loss to Auburn on Wednesday night did not deter them.

The overall atmosphere for the conference’s second-round game was set that evening as Alabama made four 3-pointers in the first three minutes of play.

Early in the second half, with the Tigers behind by four points, the Crimson Tide adjusted their strategy. To easily win, Alabama ramped up their transition offense and scored 17 fast-break points in the last 20 minutes.

Guard Jalen Keep cooking was slated to test his ailing hamstring in practice on Friday, according to McMahon, who stated he was unsure if Cook would play despite missing Wednesday night’s the destruction to Tennessee on holiday.

The Tigers are acutely aware of what Nate Oats’ team is capable of when it commits a turnover and hustles to the other end of the court, even though the Crimson Tide’s 3-point shooting garners most of the attention.

As far as forcing 12.0 turnovers per game goes, Alabama is in the center of the 351 Division I teams, but it is what it can do with those turnovers that separates it from the competition. This has resulted in 14.8 points per game, ranking 21st nationally, from those blunders.

Two weeks ago, McMahon said, his team’s defeat to the Crimson Tide—who converted the Tigers’ ten turnovers into 22 points—was mostly due to a combination of 10 mistakes and bad shot selection.

“It is evident that we need to improve our transition defense significantly,” he stated. “And one thing that really hurt us in that matchup was shot selection.”

Alabama is ranked second in the famous Ken Pomeroy rankings for adjusted offensive efficiency, which measures points scored per 100 possessions. The team’s uptempo assault is powered by a four-guard lineup that includes Mark Sears, Aaron Estrada, Rylan Griffen, and Latrell Wrightsell.