Alabama basketball's ability to win without 3-pointers should scare NCAA Tournament teams

In between a bathroom break, a visit to the concession stand or a conversation with a neighboring fan during halftime, a glance at a box score from the Alabama basketball game vs. Arkansas would have shown only one 3-pointer.

One. For a team that prides itself on shooting triples and using them as a catalyst to winning.

That one 3-pointer belonged to Dom Welch, who's been a reserve for Alabama this season. Sure, he was solid from 3-point range at St. Bonaventure before he transferred to Alabama, but he's not the main player on whom the Crimson Tide counts to play its brand of basketball.

Players like Brandon Miller, Mark Sears, Nimari Burnett and Rylan Griffen are more of the group that usually sinks triples for the Crimson Tide. Yet they went a combined 0-for-6 from beyond the arc in the first half against the Razorbacks.

It didn't improve in the second-half either. Alabama shot 3-for-22 (13.6%) from deep.

Yet, the Crimson Tide won. That's as an encouraging sign from the 86-83 win over Arkansas as any.

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No, Alabama doesn't want to shoot like that. Sometimes shots don't fall, though, and that can be a prime ingredient in an NCAA Tournament upset.

But if Alabama can win even without its signature shot, that doesn't bode well for future opponents with the Crimson Tide (25-4, 15-1 SEC) on a path to a No. 1 seed as part of March Madness.

"For everybody that thinks every time we shoot the ball poorly from three, we lose, we just shot 13% from three and won the game against a really good team," Alabama coach Nate Oats said. "I think it gives us some confidence we can still win games when we’re not making threes."

Consider that a warning from Oats. Take away the perimeter from Alabama, and the Crimson Tide will still find a way.

Alabama hasn't shot that poorly since the season opener against Longwood, in which Oats' squad went 3-for-28 from beyond the arc. The Crimson Tide won that game, too.

But Arkansas was a more difficult opponent. The Razorbacks have had ups and downs but still entered Saturday with a top-50 offense and defense in adjusted efficiency, per KenPom.

Plus, Arkansas has recently added Nick Smith Jr. back into the lineup. He was the No. 1 overall recruit in the 2022 class per the 247Sports Composite. Smith didn't play in the first matchup with Alabama back in January, but he scored 24 on Saturday.

Arkansas' defense is also one of the best in the country, and the Razorbacks made it difficult to shoot triples. Oats said Arkansas wanted to take away Alabama's 3-point shooting and push players down to the shot-blocking area at the rim. Arkansas is No. 18 in the country in block percentage, per KenPom.

The Crimson Tide struggled with that early. The Razorbacks blocked several shots in the first few minutes, and Oats didn't think his players were making good rim decisions.

He thought Jahvon Quinerly helped Alabama break out of that.

Quinerly scored 12 of his 16 points in the second half. He also had seven assists in the second half. Only three of his points came from beyond the arc.

"Got the ball downhill, got the ball up on the rim a little quicker," Oats said. "Finished at the rim well. Got some assists, Found guys, sprayed out. We didn’t make a ton of threes, but he was able to make a little better rim decisions on that."

Alabama was also able to win because of its ability to score second-chance points (15) and win the rebounding battle (48-37).

Miller scored 24 points while only making one 3-pointer. Sears scored 13, and he didn't even sink one.

The defense, although it struggled to slow Arkansas in the final minutes, stepped up at times, too. Alabama's 15-0 run was crucial in the Crimson Tide coming from behind to take the lead in the second half. Alabama kept Arkansas from making a field goal for five minutes during that span.

Sometimes 3-pointers are there, sometimes they're not. More often than not, Alabama can make them at a solid clip.

There could be more days like Saturday, though. The Crimson Tide proved that won't automatically result in a loss.

Nick Kelly covers Alabama football and men's basketball for The Tuscaloosa News, part of the USA TODAY Network. Reach him at nkelly@gannett.com or follow him on Twitter: @_NickKelly

This article originally appeared on The Tuscaloosa News: The most impressive part of Alabama basketball's win over Arkansas