No. 8 Auburn walked into a Coleman Coliseum atmosphere that hardly resembled a tennis court, and when the lights finally turned on got Auburn faced what has been by far the toughest matchup during this 11-game win streak.

That streak has come to an end. Auburn falls for the first time since Dec. 3, 79-75 to Alabama.

Auburn (15-3, 5-1),gave itself a chance to tie the game with three Chad Baker-Mazara free throws to tie the game with under 15 seconds to play. Missing the last of three attempts.

There is now a three-way tie atop the SEC with Auburn, Alabama (13-6, 5-1) and Tennessee. Alabama beat Auburn. Tennessee beat Alabama. Auburn and Tennessee don’t play for another month.

Welcome to SEC basketball. This title chase is going to be a wild ride.

Here are three takeaways:

Auburn’s first-half turnovers were costly

Early in the first half, Auburn got out to a 12-4 lead. It was shooting the ball effectively, and comfortably defending arguably the nation’s best offense.

Then it started turning the ball over. A lot.

Auburn’s largest lead came at 16-8. Alabama outscored Auburn 36-14 over the final 15 minutes of the first half. Auburn had nine first-half turnovers and Alabama scored 16 points off them.

Auburn only scored four points off seven Alabama turnovers in the first half.

The result was a 14-point halftime deficit for Auburn.

That left Auburn a huge hole to dig out of in the second half, which they did.

Auburn cut its turnovers down to only two in the second half and allowed only two points off them.

When Auburn was able to hold onto the ball, its defense was at its best. Alabama’s offense wasn’t able to facilitate quickly in transition at the pace it likes to play at without Auburn turning the ball over.

Auburn’s ability to adjust out of halftime in a hostile environment is impressive. It gave itself a chance. The missed Baker-Mazara free throw at the end will be brutal to look back on.

But Auburn put itself in a position to possibly extend the game to overtime.

Auburn’s defense gave itself a chance, just like against App State

Once Alabama had the ball, a catalyst for its first-half spurt was its ability to shoot the 3. Make no mistake, Alabama is one of the best 3-point shooting teams in America. It’s one of the best offenses in America.

But as much as this Alabama team has died by the 3 in losses like against Tennessee, it surely can live by it, too.

In the first half, Alabama lived by it. In Coleman Coliseum, especially with the juice it had Wednesday night, there may not be a tougher team to guard in college basketball than the Crimson Tide.

Auburn had a 21-point deficit to Alabama beyond the arc at halftime. The only 3-pointer Auburn made in the first half was Johni Broom when the lights weren’t even on.

Auburn is now 15-70 on 3s in true road games.

But Auburn came back. And it did so because of its defense.

It’s the same way Auburn brought itself back on a poor shooting night against App State. The defense held Alabama to 35 points in the second half and 29% shooting.

It’s what gave Auburn a chance to get back in this game far more than its offense.

To do that in the second half in this building after all the second-half woes it’s had is an improvement. Few teams have held Alabama in check like this. The first half-hole was too much.

Johni Broome was spectacular. And yet, Auburn needed him more.

Bruce Pearl has said often that even on a team with so much depth, his stars still have to be stars. And maybe Auburn doesn’t have a true star, but it’s hard to argue anyone other than Johni Broome as Auburn’s best player.

And in a big game, he stepped up.

Broome played 25 minutes. He scored 25 points along with 14 rebounds and five blocks.

And maybe he should have played more. Broome was subbed out with 13:48 to play in the second half. He came back in with 6:24 to play.

Pearl has lived by the approach of keeping his players fresh by subbing them out after short stints, similar in a way to a hockey shift.

And Auburn probably needed Broome to come in earlier.

It’s not the reason why Auburn lost, far from it. Auburn came back in this game and gave itself free throws with a chance to tie the game in the final moments all with Broome on the floor. He came out of the game with eight seconds to play after he picked up his fifth foul.

This, though, isn’t a referendum on Auburn’s depth or its rotation.

Matt Cohen covers Auburn sports for AL.com. You can follow him on X at @Matt_Cohen_ or email him at [email protected]