Mark Sears brought the ball up and found himself alone atop the 3-point arch. The Alabama guard eyed the rim and released, the attempt on target but rotating well short of the rim. Rylan Griffen, who rotated for a rebound, caught Sears’ miss as if it were a pass and extended the Crimson Tide’s lead over Arkansas.

Alabama tied a season-low of three 3-pointers made on 22 attempts on Saturday. While it didn’t cost a win, it continued to force Alabama to pivot from its offensive identity and escape Coleman Coliseum with an 86-83 final.

Nate Oats’ squad has made (294) and shot (845) the most 3s in the Southeastern Conference. After the Oklahoma loss on Jan. 28, part of the team’s wake-up call was more shooting in the gym. It led to a hot temporary hot stretch which ended a few weeks later at Auburn. Since beating the Tigers, the Tide is converting 3s at a 31.3% clip, a rate buoyed by hitting 16 of 34 versus Georgia.

The dynamic isn’t as simple as Alabama needs to make 3s to win. Alabama beat Michigan State, Houston and eight SEC opponents making less than 10. The key is generating clean looks and sticking to the game plan. It worked versus Arkansas — the Tide made 26-of-44 two-pointers with 25 free throws — and may be needed for No. 2 Alabama (25-4, 15-1 SEC) to clinch a regular-season conference title with a win in one of its last two games of the regular season.

“We’re gonna try to get shooters on the floor, and if they’re open, I’m never telling a shooter not to take open shots,” Oats said postgame. “… I’m not gonna tell those kind of guys not to take open threes. We’re just gonna have to get to the (offensive) boards a little better. We ended up getting 15 second-chance points. We’re gonna have to get out in transition a little more. We’re gonna have to do some other stuff. But we’re not gonna tell guys not to take open shots.”

Against Arkansas, the Tide missed 19 of its first 20 tries from deep. Guards like Sears and Javon Quinerly were able to blow past defenders but either turned the ball over or were indecisive in the lane and missed layups. Oats later said the combo of Arkansas’ size and scheme limited opportunities.

Eventually sinking into a nine-point halftime deficit at home, Alabama freshman Brandon Miller noticed a way to exploit Arkansas. The Razorbacks weren’t leaving him on screens, Miller called out in team huddles. Fearful of Miller’s 41-point showing at South Carolina a few days prior, Arkansas was willing to give Tide guards space and prevent Miller from beating them.

While Miller would only hit one of his six tries, his lowest 3-point output since the Auburn game, he did score 24 points. The majority of Miller’s buckets came off one-on-one matchups with the 6-foot-9 star beating a less-athletic forward off the dribble. Some teams may double Miller in the future, though then that would give space to Sears, Griffen and Quinerly.

“We don’t have to just win one way,” Oats said For everybody that thinks every time we shoot the ball poorly from three, we lose. We just shot 13 percent from three and own the game against a really good team. So yeah, I think it gives us some confidence we can still win games when we’re not making threes.”

MORE Tide basketball: Could Javon Quinerly return to Alabama for sixth season in 2023-24?

Nate Oats: Brandon Miller’s pat down pregame introduction ‘won’t happen again’

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