The biggest non-conference game of Alabama’s home schedule for men’s basketball this season drew a national audience on ESPN, but a lackluster crowd in Coleman Coliseum.
An 8:30 p.m. CT tip-off Tuesday against Clemson in the ACC/SEC challenge was not well-attended outside of the student section, which resulted in ESPN color commentator Jay Williams calling out Alabama fans at halftime.
“What’s the point of playing at home if it’s not gonna have a home court advantage? Like, this doesn’t feel like a home-court advantage at all for Alabama,” Williams said. “The place is not packed, the fans don’t seem to be engaged. It seems to be more like a tennis match. And by the way, Clemson has been taking the air out of the building.”
Alabama lost, 85-77, to unranked Clemson after leading by as many as seven points early in the second half. It marked Alabama’s first loss in Coleman Coliseum since March 2022, snapping a 19-game winning streak.
“Disappointing home loss with a great crowd,” coach Nate Oats said. “I thought the student section was great. Make sure to thank them because would love to keep getting them out. Hopefully we can play some better basketball for them.
“At times, I’m sure it did [sound like a tennis match]. They called a timeout. I heard the crowd was great at times. And then, we got to give them something to cheer about, to be honest with you. Like, come out and [they] go on a 13-0 run, people are gonna get quiet. We need the crowd to kind of cheer us on to some stops. We also need our players to make some plays to get the crowd into it sometimes, too. Like, we made some in the first half. I mean, we had the play where Grant [Nelson] dives on the floor, kicks it up, ends up in Mo [Wague’s] hands. There’s hustle plays, blue-collar plays, toughness plays. When you give up multiple offensive rebounds in one possession, it’s deflating. It’s deflating to the coaching staff, it’s deflating to the crowd. The crowd gets a little upset with a lack of effort — as they should — and we got to do a better job making those tough, effort plays that the crowd appreciates around here, and I think the crowd will get into it a little bit more.”
The Tide entered its lone game this week ranked No. 23 in the Associated Press poll after a 5-1 start, including splitting its two games last week in the Emerald Coast Classic.
“This game means a lot. We need the crowd to show up big,” Oats said Monday before the Clemson game. “It’s going to take a colossal effort to play well. We need unbelievable crowd support, we need our home-court advantage.”
Alabama announced plans in February 2022 to build a new on-campus basketball arena with a redesigned student section closer to the court, but those plans have been put on hold indefinitely with school administrators citing inflated construction costs.
Alabama’s next game is next Monday in Coleman Coliseum against Arkansas State. It will mark the return of former assistant coach Bryan Hodgson to Tuscaloosa. That will be followed by a three-game road swing to Toronto to play Purdue, at Creighton, and to Phoenix to play Arizona.