Alabama head basketball coach Nate Oats shares shocking condemnation of Crimson Tide after Ole Miss upset

Alabama basketball saw its nine-game win streak come to a crashing halt. In basketball’s version of the Brick Bowl, the No. 4 Crimson Tide fell 74-64 at home to No. 21 Ole Miss.

In their most sluggish performance of the season, Bama coughed up an inexcusable 21 turnovers and shot 5/20 from 3-point range in the loss. The Tide posted a season-low in points, scoring less than 81 for just the second time in 17 games.

Alabama head coach Nate Oats couldn’t hide his disgust after the loss. At halftime, Oats had told Crimson Tide Sports Network that his team was “sleepwalking.” The Tide then proceeded to score 28 points in an even worse second-half effort.

“It’s disgusting, to be honest with you,” Oats said in his postgame presser. “With the amount of fifth-year seniors we have and the leadership that should be shown on this team, to have guys not come in ready to play … It starts with me because I’m supposed to be the one motivating these guys, and I obviously didn’t motivate them very well to make sure they were ready.

“I’m going to have to look in the mirror and see what I did, didn’t do. We’re gonna have to have a good talk with some of these seniors that are supposed to be our leaders and figure out why we weren’t ready to go tonight because it’s very disappointing. It’s disgusting, and it’s frustrating.”

Hopefully for Oats, this loss will serve as a wake-up call for his team. The sixth-year Bama coach led the Tide to its first Final Four run in program history last year, and he will need his players to bring their ultimate level of effort to make another deep run in March. 

Oats made sure to credit Ole Miss for its elite defense, even stating that they “should be in the mix to win the whole thing.” The Rebels have a top-15 defensive rating in college hoops, and they brought every bit of that defense to Coleman Coliseum.

“Ole Miss came in and they deserved to win to win the game,” Oats said. “You have to deserve it with your preparation going into the game and then you’ve got to deserve it with your effort once you’re in the game. The team that deserved to win tonight won the game tonight.”

Things won’t get any easier for the Tide in their next matchup against No. 8 Kentucky. Going up against an NCAA blue blood, Oats and his squad will look to bounce back with a much-needed statement win.