Through 18 regular-season games, five of which were against the Southeastern Conference, it’s still unclear what the 2023-24 Alabama men’s basketball team is capable of in March.

The advanced analytics love Nate Oats and the Tide. Its offense, which averages 89.2 points per game, is near the top of most national charts when adjusted for competition. The NCAA’s NET rankings — a measure the NCAA Tournament selection committee uses to gauge the best teams — have firmly included UA all season in the top 10. And despite a 12-6 record, Alabama continues to receive votes in The Associated Press poll.

Yet, as last Saturday’s 20-point blowout loss against now-No. 5 Tennessee showed, when the bar is raised, Alabama has failed to meet it. The Tide’s best win is at Mississippi State on Jan. 13 and while ESPN’s Joe Lunardi projects it as a 5-seed in March Madness, Alabama can’t afford a downturn in the SEC.

Alabama needs a marquee win to build off and coincidentally, it gets its best opportunity to date when it hosts No. 8 Auburn (15-2, 5-0) on Wednesday at 6:30 p.m. (ESPN).

“I’ve told our guys this, it’s great we’ve blown out some bad teams by a lot so our efficiency metrics look good,” Oats said Tuesday. “In the games that matter, we’re not coming up with enough wins. We’ll see tomorrow. … I think our guys need to compete more, they need to play together more. They need to take care of the ball. We need to figure out how to win tough, close games.

“I’m still trying to figure out: Are we a competitive group that does what it takes to win? Or do we just (have) a lot of really talented players that fall over when they’re in the middle of tough games against good teams? I’m not sure yet.”

Auburn hasn’t lost since Dec. 9, riding an 11-game winning streak into Coleman Coliseum. Bruce Pearl’s group is one of the more well-balanced teams nationally, ranking in the top nine, per KenPom’s adjusted offensive and defensive efficiency metrics.

Speaking to reporters on The Plains, Pearl called Alabama its toughest opponent yet.

Johni Broome is making an impact on both ends, posting a team-high 15.4 points per game while ranking 35th nationally in block percentage (8.7%). Forward Jaylin Williams has scored double-digits in three of his last four games. They’ll pose a challenge inside as UA’s bigs have struggled in conference play with Grant Nelson running into foul trouble and Mohamed Wague dealing with a nagging foot injury.

Alabama has faltered against some of the nation’s best bigs like Zach Edey (Purdue), Oumar Ballo (Arizona) and Ryan Kalkbrenner (Creighton). Oats said Broome represents another “concern” and hinted that the 6-foot-11 Nelson may guard the 6-foot-10 Broome.

One of the more entertaining 1-on-1 matchups the SEC can offer will occur at the team’s guard spots. Veteran Mark Sears (limited against Tennessee with an ankle injury) and best all-around defender Rylan Griffen will need to find an answer for electric five-star freshman Aden Holloway — he’s averaging 10 points a content while shooting 34.8% from deep.

“They’re in first place in the league. We’re one game behind them. If they beat us, they’re two games out and they’ve given themselves an unbelievable lead to win the league,” Oats said. “If we beat them, we’re tired for first place and we’re right there competing.”

Alabama has committed the most turnovers of any SEC team in league play while Auburn is generating the most as a defense. Coming off a season-worst 22 giveaways last Saturday, Alabama has a chance to clean up the mistakes and finally start matching the underlying numbers with tallies in the win column.

Nick Alvarez is a reporter for Alabama Media Group. Follow him on Twitter @nick_a_alvarez or email him at [email protected].