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Alabama knocks off unbeaten No. 4 Auburn

Alabama v Arkansas

FAYETTEVILLE, AR - MARCH 9: Kira Lewis Jr. #2 of the Alabama Crimson Tide dribbles down the court during a game against the Arkansas Razorbacks at Bud Walton Arena on March 9, 2019 in Fayetteville, Arkansas. The Razorbacks defeated the Crimson Tide 82-70. (Photo by Wesley Hitt/Getty Images)

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Alabama dropped previously-unbeaten rival Auburn with an 83-64 home win on Wednesday night.

College basketball is down to only one undefeated team with the loss for the No. 4 Tigers.

The Crimson Tide took advantage of an off-night from the Tigers to jump out to an early lead and hold on from there. It helped that Kira Lewis Jr. came through with 25 points and a strong effort on the defensive end. Lewis played in attack mode while still making strong decisions, driving the Alabama offense to a strong night.

Lewis was also a menace on the defensive end. The sophomore was tasked with guarding Samir Doughty or J’Von McCormick. Lewis came through by helping to shut both of them down. Herb Jones complimented Lewis with a strong two-way effort of his own, finishing with 12 points and 13 rebounds.

The win jumps Alabama to 9-7 and 2-2 in the SEC. They’re still a long way from thinking about an NCAA tournament bid. But a rivalry win like this over a top-five team could jumpstart bigger things. Particularly if Lewis plays like this every night. At the very least, this is an early signature win for new head coach Nate Oats.

The real story in this one is the collapse of Auburn during a rivalry game. The Tigers (15-1, 3-1) started the game 3-for-18 from the field. Things didn’t get much better from there. Turning the ball over a season-high 21 times and shooting 56 percent from the free-throw line, Auburn had a terrible night completing even the fundamentals. Auburn shot a season-low 32 percent from the field.

Outside of Isaac Okoro (13 points) and Austin Wiley (10 points, 13 rebounds), nobody on Auburn really stepped up on the road Wednesday night.

Although losing a rivalry game hurts, the pressure of being an undefeated team halfway through January is also tough to deal with. The Tigers were always going to be the hunted coming off of last season’s Final Four appearance. But there’s a little extra bullseye on a team’s back if they’re still undefeated at this point in the season. This loss takes a small amount of pressure off of Auburn as they regroup for the rest of conference season.

One thing is for sure, Auburn has to come with more intensity on the road next time. A lackluster effort from the start in a rivalry game is not assuring for a team trying to make another deep run in March.

San Diego State is now the final undefeated college hoops team for the 2019-20 season.