Alabama men’s basketball could have a problem brewing on offense.

That will especially be true if the performance against Ole Miss bleeds over into other games.

Alabama sputtered all night offensively, and it resulted in a double-digit home loss. The No. 21 Rebels beat No. 4 Alabama 74-64 at Coleman Coliseum on Tuesday. It marked the first loss in nonconference play for the Crimson Tide (14-3, 3-1 SEC) and the first loss since Nov. 30.

Alabama averaged .889 points per possession. That’s nowhere near the number the Crimson Tide wants or expects.

“I think we all should be pretty concerned to be honest with you,” Alabama coach Nate Oats said about the direction of the offense. “We’re not aggressive, other than on our rebounds. The guards didn’t come off attacking a switch like we try to coach them to do. We’re not shooting the ball very well. Part of that is we’re not getting very good shots.”

Offensive rebounding has been one thing Oats could rely on prior to Tuesday. The Crimson Tide entered the game ranked No. 11 in rebounding percentage in the country, per KenPom. A couple of prior highlights: The Crimson Tide secured 20 offensive boards against Oklahoma and 18 against Texas A&M. Both conference wins.

Then Alabama managed to grab only four offensive rebounds in the loss to Ole Miss.

“Maybe the most disappointing thing of the night in my opinion was our lack of effort on the offensive glass,” Oats said. “I don’t know if our guys didn’t realize that’s what’s been keeping our offense going. The offensive rebounding rate has really been saving us in some of these games.”

It didn’t in the game against Ole Miss, which exposed some other issues.

Alabama made its fewest 3-pointers of the season with five on 20 attempts (25%). That’s not the worst percentage of the season, but it’s certainly not near the number the Crimson Tide would like.

Alabama doesn’t have to make triples at a high clip to win games. But it would like to do better than it has at times this season. Consistent, clutch shooting hasn’t always been present.

And then there’s the turnovers. Alabama tallied a season-high against Ole Miss with 21. The Crimson Tide turned the ball over on 29.2% of possessions.

The problem is, that’s not just limited to the Ole Miss game. Turnovers have been an issue at other times too, even if they haven’t always cost the Crimson Tide wins. Per KenPom, Alabama ranked No. 112 in turnover percentage heading into Tuesday, and the Crimson Tide fell to No. 157 after the game.

Ole Miss was one of the best in the country at turning teams over, now ranked 10th. So it’s understandable Alabama had some issues. But 21 turnovers isn’t a formula to any kind of successful or efficient offense.

“We lost this game on the offensive end,” Oats said. “We lost the game with our turnovers and lack of effort on the offensive glass. Guys that we count on to get offensive rebounds came through with nothing for us.”

The key for Alabama will be hitting reset on offense before the matchup on the road against Kentucky this Saturday (11 a.m. CT, ESPN). The Crimson Tide must leave the troubling Ole Miss performance in the past and cut off any troubling trends before they have room to grow.

There’s plenty of season still to be played and time for the offense to get back on track, even if there are some concerning elements after the loss to Ole Miss. Alabama still has the No. 9 offense in adjusted offensive efficiency, per KenPom. That’s a tumble from the No. 2 ranking heading into the game, but it’s still top 10.

“We’ll spend a lot of time evaluating this one,” Oats said. “We’re definitely going to have to get back to getting to the offensive boards. That’s been saving our offense. I don’t know if our guys felt like they didn’t need to anymore or what. That obviously didn’t work very well for us.”

Nick Kelly is an Alabama beat writer for AL.com and the Alabama Media Group. Follow him on X and Instagram.