Alabama Basketball: Nate Oats’ Tide debut spoiled in surprising manner

It was not so much that Alabama basketball lost its first game of the Nate Oats’ era – it was how the Crimson Tide lost Tuesday night in Tuscaloosa.

The opening game of Nate Oats’ Alabama basketball career did not go as planned. There was much enthusiasm for the new coach and his style of basketball. Few Crimson Tide fans gave notice to the opponent. The Penn Quakers of the Ivy League were a team to be taken seriously. The game gave no indication the Tide players and coaching staff were prepared for anything other than a hard contest.

A hard game is just what the Tide received. Before battling back, late in the second half, the Crimson Tide trailed the Ivy League team by as much as nine points. The Crimson Tide fought back to tie with 2:20 remaining after a slashing dunk by Alex Reese. Penn regained the lead at 1:40 with two free throws. A wild 80 seconds followed with no points until Kira Lewis Jr. put the Tide ahead by one with a three-point jumper. The scrambling Tide team missed five shots before Lewis managed to give his team the one-point lead with 20 seconds to go.

The Penn Quakers answered with a little jumper in the foul lane, regaining a one-point lead with six seconds left. After a Crimson Tide timeout, Kira Lewis dribbled and dashed from the backcourt and into the frontcourt and into a Penn foul.

Alabama basketball coach, Nate Oats must have been confident the Tide would win – or in the worst case of a free throw miss, send the game to overtime. The Tide was in a double bonus. Lewis with 30 points, eight rebounds and five assists led his team in all three categories. Crimson Tide fans would have not wanted anyone but Kira on the foul line.

He missed the first – and the second.  Battling players lost the ball out-of-bounds. Penn won 81-80.

It is unfair to blame the Tide loss on its sophomore leader. He had a great game and without him, the Crimson Tide might have lost by double-digits. The game was lost because Penn could finish around the rim, and for most of the game, the Crimson Tide could not. The Quakers had 12 more points in the paint. The new Tide primary weapon of taking any open three was not enough, ending up with only 29 percent success.

Shoot 29 percent from outside the arc and a team must play strong defense. The Crimson Tide played hard but it did not play well defensively. Losing Herbert Jones to an elbow injury after 10 minutes of play weakened the defensive strength. Alex Reese also played at less than full health.

Tuesday night was a tough loss but it was only one game. Tide fans should still be enthused about Nate Oats and what lies ahead.