The Alabama Crimson Tide ran into a team that it couldn’t outrun.

The Tide fell at the hands of the one-seed Michigan Wolverines by the score of 90-77, and Michigan’s prowess was felt all night.

Led by a couple of vets in Yaxel Lendeborg and Eliot Cadeau, the Wolverines had their way with Alabama, by completely slowing the Tide down.

And now, with a long and windy offseason ahead of us, coach Nate Oats has a lot to think about for the future of this program.

Let’s dive into our takeaways from last night’s game.

What made Alabama look so dominant last round against Texas Tech was that it completely outworked the Red Raiders.

On the glass, on the fastbreak, in the paint.

Michigan wasn’t fazed. At all.

Steve Lappas, who served as the color commentator for last night’s game on the TBS broadcast, singled out two keys to the game for both teams, and for Alabama, it was simple.

Control the pace by running the ball and win the glass battle.

Michigan ended up dominating the glass on both ends, securing 46 rebounds to Alabama’s 32 – and winning the offensive rebound battle 10 to 8.

Along with that, Alabama got beat at its own game. Michigan stifled the Crimson Tide 19-7 on the fastbreak.

Alabama had come into last night’s game with respect, and finished the first half with a 49-47 lead. But once the second half hit, both teams played a different game.

Michigan ultimately imposed its will and ran away with the game.

This was likely the last game we will ever see LaBaron Philon play in the crimson and white.

Even though the team result didn’t end up the way he wanted to, on an individual level, what a way to go out.

This game was dominated by him, and at times it seemed like he was the only one making any significant moves.

He finished the game with 35 points (tying a career high), seven rebounds, and four assists on 10-21 shooting and 6-14 from 3. To top it all off, he made all nine of his free throw attempts.

Not too shabby.

From here, expect Philon to enter the NBA Draft, where he is projected to be selected in the top-10.

If you’re going to beat one of the top programs in the nation, you need to have all hands on deck.

Alabama did not.

Only Taylor Bol Bowen and Houston Mallette managed to score from the bench, each chipping in a 3-pointer with both Noah Williamson and Jalil Bethea only seeing the floor for a combined four minutes.

Beyond that, it seemed like Aiden Sherrell was going to be a big part of this game, hitting two 3-pointers in the first four minutes, but then the Michigan big men put an end to that quickly.

Outside of Philon, the rest of the Tide went 15-48 from the field and 8-33 from 3-point range.

I’m going to sound like I’m beating a dead horse, but here goes nothing.

Michigan knew exactly what Alabama was going to do.

There was a sequence in the second half where Latrell Wrightsell went to shoot a corner 3, and it got blocked. The next possession, literally the same sequence happened where Wrightsell attempted a corner 3, and it got blocked.

Nate Oats is a fantastic coach who has managed to sustain more success in Alabama basketball than any coach has in the program’s history.

The problem is, shots are not guaranteed to fall all the time.

So when your shot isn’t landing, and you continue to chuck up early-in-the-shotclock 3s that don’t land, you then come across as reckless.

Take this for example. During the regular season, when Alabama would play a team that was nationally ranked, its record is 4-5. Three of those losses were by 10 points or more, including a 21-point loss to top-ranked Arizona.

You need to be able to find ways to win the game when your shot isn’t falling.

Until that happens, Alabama’s ceiling will always be tied to whether the shots fall. Not whether they can win.

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