Houston Mallette, “I Did a Terrible Job” of Getting Alabama Ready to Play

NASHVILLE, Tenn. - Alabama's trip to the Music City was a short one, as the Crimson Tide went one-and-done in the SEC Tournament after an 80-79 loss to the Ole Miss Rebels, who started playing on Wednesday night as a 15-seed. Alabama never led in the loss, with the Rebels' forward Malik Dia hitting two three-pointers on the Rebels' first two possessions to give Ole Miss a six-point lead after less than one minute of play.

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That story continued all night, and Alabama never led in the one-point loss to the Rebels. The Crimson Tide has no more "wake-up calls" available to them. The next loss Alabama suffers will be the one that ends the Crimson Tide's season.

Alabama senior guard Houston Mallette scored just three points in Friday's loss, shooting 1-5 from the floor and 1-4 from three-point range. He collected five rebounds and had three assists, but he ended the night with four fouls. The Tide's graduate guard took responsibility for Alabama's loss in the postgame locker room.

"They kicked our butts from the jump," Mallette said. "We kinda didn't get going until it was late. Second half, we kinda made a run, cut it from 13 to one, but we could never really get it back.

"Like I said, I take full ownership," he continued. "That's on me. I gotta be ready to play, I gotta get our team ready to play, and I did a terrible job of that this week. So, we've got another week to practice, and we have another opportunity coming up."

Alabama's next game will be in the NCAA Tournament, and if the Crimson Tide loses again, it will mark the end of Alabama's 2025-2026 men's basketball season. Selection Sunday is scheduled for this Sunday, March 15.

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Wyatt Fulton is the Tide 100.9 DME and Brand Manager, primarily covering Alabama Crimson Tide football and men's basketball. For more Crimson Tide coverage, follow Wyatt on X (Formerly known as Twitter) at @FultonW_.