This was strange! It reminds me of the scene in Hoosiers when one of the players fouls out and the coach (Gene Hackman) doesn't allow the substitution and plays the rest of the game with four players. That Bama closed one time within three points and lost by only five after playing nearly 10 minutes with only three players, give those players credit!
I place PART of the blame the players that walked out onto the court during the altercation. There has been a rule in the books for a few years that players are not to leave the bench or face being kicked out of the game. That it happened to the entire bench was truly mind-boggling.
That being said, in my opinion, the bigger problem is that there is not enough space between the bench and the court or for that matter between the stands and the bench. The players stand in front of the bench, take one step forward and they are on the court!
Barbershopman