Bama’s feeling its Oats after romping over Kentucky

 

 

 

 

TUSCALOOSA — The local Dominos offered 50% off on pizzas Saturday if Alabama made 10 three-pointers against Kentucky. The Crimson Tide had that many by halftime, when it led by 16 points and had its boots pressed against the Wildcats’ windpipe. Let’s say Alabama fans were rolling in dough.

All the threes are expected of a Nate Oats team — “They’ve got shooters all over,” UK coach Mark Pope said — but Dominos didn’t offer any discounts on hustle plays or rebounding, perhaps because those were not expected in abundance because they hadn’t come in abundance in the Tide’s three losses.

But Saturday’s 89-74 win over the Wildcats gave 13,474 fans assembled in Coleman Coliseum and millions beyond its walls something to cheer about in the hangover following the Rose Bowl. In the SEC opener, Alabama (11-3) played the way Oats insists on — by clamping on the hardhats and competing for every ball ricocheting off the glass and skidding loose on the floor.

The No. 14-ranked Tide, which led by 21 points at one juncture, has now beaten one of the bluest of bluebloods in college basketball four straight times for the first time. No, this isn’t yet the vintage Kentucky that has won a combined 49 SEC regular-season and tournament championships; the Wildcats (9-5) have struggled with injuries and didn’t have their full roster available for the first time until late December. But beating UK still means something — and Alabama didn’t just beat the Wildcats, it led for 36 of the 40 minutes — and it gave Oats every right to boast about his program.

 

Reason to boast

 

“We’ve got it to where we’re competing for championships over here,” said Oats, who has won a league-best 76 SEC games in seven years and a combined four SEC regular-season and tournament crowns. “I’m a little disappointed these last two years we haven’t won an SEC championship. Kentucky has all this tradition and we respect it. … They’ve got players over there that will play in the NBA, they’ve got McDonald’s All-Americans, they’ve got some of the best transfers come out of the portal. … It’s not like we just beat up on a bad team.”

Oats has plenty of talented players himself and they outplayed UK in most of the vital areas but particularly from beyond the arc (where the Tide outscored the Wildcats 45-12) and in the paint, where Alabama was vulnerable in its three losses to No. 5 Purdue, No. 7 Gonzaga and No. 1 Arizona.

The legendary Wimp Sanderson, who sat above and to the right of the bench Saturday, had a drill in the dungeons below Coleman Coliseum whenever he surmised his teams weren’t doing the dirty work he demanded. He’d roll a ball out on the floor and command his players to dive for it. He didn’t ask nicely.

Oats has emphasized such effort and it is paying off. Although it frequently used a smaller three-guard lineup, the Tide outrebounded the Wildcats 41-37, including 14-12 on the offensive boards. Alabama battled UK to a virtual draw in points in the paint and second-chance points. Admittedly, the Wildcats aren’t a great rebounding team, although Pope was exasperated by the way the Tide beat his team on the boards.

“Credit Alabama for showing up for the fight and being physical,” he said.

Even the Tide’s guards crashed the boards, collecting 14 rebounds. In one stretch of the first half, UK got only one shot on 14 of 18 trips.

“But we can’t feel good about ourselves after one game,” said guard Aden Holloway, who had four rebounds and made as many threes (6 of 8) as free throws (6 of 8) to score 26 points.

Oats feels good about Holloway on both ends of the floor.

“Aden shoots the ball really well all over the place — 30 feet, 80 feet,” he joked. “When he focuses on making tough, hard-nosed, blue-collar plays defensively, the offense just flows because he’s that talented.”

 

A bunch of hardhats

 

If Alabama develops reliable productivity in the low post to go with its three-point shooting and depth (Oats has had eight different starting lineups in the first 14 games and eight players gave him double-digit minutes Saturday), it can compete with anybody; it’s already played the second-toughest schedule among Power 4 schools.

“It was better today,” Oats said of the rebounding. “If we get outrebounded like we did against Arizona, it’s gonna be hard to beat anybody. So, they’re doing better. We haven’t done it for a full 40 like I’d like to see but there’s a reason we play the best teams in the country every year. Arizona exposed us and Purdue did as well. We’ve just got to keep getting after it.”

Oats said correcting the rebounding issues is as much about correcting defensive breakdowns, not boxing out.

“I think it’s an emphasis on way fewer defensive breakdowns and then tougher guys who just want to go get the ball,” he said.

Oats overflowed with praise in the postgame because so many Tide players got their hands dirty. Guards Holloway (+20), Latrell Wrightsell (+12) and Houston Mallette (+10), forward Aiden Sherrell (+12) and center Noah Williamson (+15) were all in double digits for their net influence and Sherrell, Holloway, Williamson and freshman forward Amari Allen were singled out for what Oats calls “blue-collar plays” — taking a charge, diving for a loose ball, rebounding, steals, blocks and deflections.

 

Noah’s mark

 

Williamson, a 7-foot Latvian transfer from Bucknell, made the biggest difference, coming off the bench when Sherrell injured his knee in the first half and sending adrenaline coursing through his teammates and the crowd with 10 points, 4 rebounds, 2 assists and 2 steals; he had just four field goals and 14 points in the 13 previous games. At times he resembled a guard with his passing and a reverse layup on the baseline.

Where’s he been?

Oats paused. “Shoot,” he said before taking a swig of water and perhaps unwittingly realizing he had just summed up the issue. “That’s a great question. He had more field goals today than he’s had all year. He’s been struggling with some confidence, which I’ve been trying to give to him. He didn’t dunk it over anybody today but he’s going to the rim trying to finish. He’s talented. We’ve just got to get his confidence going. He needed this game in a big way. He did it against maybe the most athletic, biggest, toughest, for sure the most hyped in the preseason frontcourt in our league. If you can do this against Kentucky, you can do this in the SEC.”

Oats said he gave Allen the hardhat award after the game but Allen then gave it to Williamson.

“He put it on Noah’s head, like giving it as a nod to Noah because we don’t win the game without him and I think all the players knew it,” Oats said.

Saturday’s superlatives poured out: Allen scored 11 points, grabbed 9 rebounds (6 offensive) and dished 3 assists on a twisted ankle; the 6-3 Wrightsell did a good job defending his former teammate, the 6-7 Mouhamed Dioubate, who was booed every time he touched the ball and finished with just 6 points; and Mallette came off the bench to provide 14 points, including 4 three-pointers, and 5 rebounds.

None of that is a secret but Williamson was, at least until Saturday. He acknowledged he needed a breakout performance but said he won’t rest on it.

“I appreciate my teammates and coaches for sticking with me after a slow start to the year but we’ve still got a lot of games to go for a national championship,” he said.