'Mission wasn't complete': Alabama basketball paired historic season with bad ending

LOUISVILLE, Kentucky ― Alabama basketball guard Nimari Burnett sat in his locker, stared at the floor and touched the right side of his face.

He needed something tangible to know if he was really there in that moment late Friday night.

"It really was an unbelievable thing," Burnett said. "I was kind of like smacking myself. Are we here? You wouldn't think yesterday in practice and yesterday in shootaround this would be our last game."

Yet when time expired at the KFC Yum! Center, it was. No. 1 seed Alabama basketball had lost to No. 5 seed San Diego State 71-64 in the Sweet 16.

It brought an end to the Crimson Tide's season and an NCAA Tournament run for a team that had the potential to reach the Final Four and win a national championship.

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"We’re upset now because we definitely feel like we should have won the game," Burnett said, " … We didn’t think our season would be ending a week-and-a-half early."

They weren't alone. Alabama (31-6) was the No. 1 overall seed in the field. A national championship wasn't just a lofty expectation. It was a realistic possibility.

Alabama had a terrific season, one of the best in program history. It also can be considered a disappointment. Both things can be true at the same time.

Alabama set a program record for wins in a season (31). It won the SEC in the regular season. It won the SEC Tournament. Then the Crimson Tide received its first No. 1 seed in the NCAA Tournament.

All of that is worth remembering and celebrating.

"It’s a great season," forward Brandon Miller said. "Came to a Sweet 16 with as young of a group as we are. We have a few vets in here. I feel like that’s pretty successful, but our mission wasn’t complete."

The Crimson Tide, with an elite freshman class, depth, defense, quality coaching and more, had the ability to beat any team in the country.

Instead, it has to watch the last three rounds from home.

So, how did it happen? Where did it go wrong?

It starts with the 30-second timeout San Diego State coach Brian Dutcher called with 11:31 left in the second half.

Alabama was taking control of the game. Trailing 28-23 at halftime, the Crimson Tide emerged from the locker room with vigor and jumped out to a 48-39 lead. Alabama was playing like the team that earned the No. 1 seed, not the one that looked flat offensively in the first half vs. the physicality of the Aztecs.

The timeout changed everything. San Diego State went on a 12-0 run and was back in control. Turnovers helped fuel that. Alabama had three over 3:40 during that run.

"I thought we did a great job coming into the half ready to play," Alabama coach Nate Oats said. "And they're a really good group with some veteran players. They definitely got experience, and they got down nine and came out and turned it right around. You've got to give them a lot of credit."

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Alabama couldn't consistently make shots again. It never regained the lead.

"We just had a hard time answering that run they went on," Quinerly said.

So the March run comes to an end.

Alabama had three main goals this season.

No. 1: Win the SEC in the regular season.

No. 2: Win the SEC Tournament.

No. 3: Win the NCAA Tournament.

Two out of three makes for a great season, but missing out on No. 3, with what this team had in the fold, will leave a sour taste. There will always be the feeling of what could have been.

This could have been the team to finally win it all.

"As the game was going on, and especially at the end, seeing this, I was like, ‘Nah. No way. We’ve got to keep fighting and pushing,'" Burnett said. "When that buzzer sounded, it just set in. Reality set in. We really just lost this game. Our season shouldn’t have ended this way."

This article originally appeared on The Tuscaloosa News: Alabama basketball's historic season includes bad NCAA Tournament end