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Alabama's Dakota Slaughter ices his bloody nose during the first half of an 82-74 loss to Ole Miss on Senior Night on March 3, 2015, in Tuscaloosa, Alabama. (Vasha Hunt/vhunt@al.com)
(VASHA HUNT)
Anthony Grant was sick as a dog. He looked like he needed all the strength he could muster just to stand up on the sideline Tuesday night.
Two of his Alabama players suffered nosebleeds, Dakota Slaughter in the first half and Retin Obasohan in the second half.
Obasohan's absence came at a critical juncture when the game got away from the Crimson Tide, and Grant said this about the latest malady to afflict this snake-bit bunch: "Couldn't get the bleeding stopped."
And there it was, an epitaph for the last home game of a lost season. At least.
Alabama led at the half but couldn't hold the lead, watching fresher, deeper and healthier Ole Miss take control for an 82-74 defeat on Senior Night in front of a crowd generously listed at 9,184. A good number of those seats were purchased but not occupied.
Alabama dropped to 17-13 overall and 7-10 in the SEC, with little hope for a postseason run. With one game left in the regular season, the short-handed Crimson Tide will finish with a losing conference record for the second straight year, for the third time in Grant's six years as head coach.
It didn't matter that Levi Randolph saved one of his best games in an Alabama uniform for his last game in Coleman Coliseum. He set a school record by hitting all 17 of his free throws and finished with 32 points, one shy of his career high, but it wasn't enough.
It didn't matter that Slaughter made the most of his Senior Night start, the walk-on overcoming his early nerves to rise to the occasion and contribute eight points in a career-high 21 minutes. That wasn't enough, not even combined with another 14 points from fellow senior and regular starter Rodney Cooper.
It didn't matter that sophomore center Jimmie Taylor continued to flash his potential with a double-double with 13 points and 11 rebounds. At times Tuesday night, as Grant said, "Jimmie was dominant," but when he went to the bench early in the second half with his third foul, Alabama's five-point lead was soon to follow.
Obasohan's unexplained nosebleed was the story of Alabama's wounded season in miniature. It sidelined the only Tide perimeter defender athletic enough to have a prayer of checking Ole Miss leading scorer Stefan Moody, who scored 22 of his team-high 25 points in the second half.
And so the Rebels stopped a little bleeding of their own, ending their two-game losing streak. They improved to 20-10 overall and 11-6 in the SEC and moved one step closer to their second NCAA Tournament berth in three years.
In the 96 years that Ole Miss played basketball before Andy Kennedy arrived as head coach, the Rebels won 20 games in a season a total of seven times. They've now reached the 20-win mark seven times in Kennedy's nine years on the bench. The former UAB star has given Ole Miss some of the best basketball in school history.
At Alabama, seniors Randolph, Cooper and Slaughter have given great effort. They've represented the program in a first-class manner on and off the floor. Randolph has been a model for what a student-athlete should be as a player and as the program's first Academic All-American.
Grant complimented all his seniors but offered special praise for Randolph, who's been the ultimate unselfish team player to the end.
"He's been a joy to coach," Grant said. "Certainly, we wish we could've had a different result for him tonight."
Instead, they couldn't get the bleeding stopped on the last game-night the seniors will walk off this floor, and you have to wonder. Was this Grant's final exit here as well?