Alabama Basketball: Nate Oats gets first victory as Crimson Tide Head Coach

Alabama basketball gave Nate Oats his first victory as the Crimson Tide Head Coach as the Tide took down Florida Atlantic.

Monday did not go well for Alabama basketball. At least it didn’t until Monday night’s game versus Florida Atlantic (FAU). Earlier in the day, the Tide’s appeal of a previous NCAA ruling denying Villanova transfer, Jahvon Quinerly immediate eligibility, was again denied by the NCAA. Quinerly will not play this season.

The injury-depleted Alabama basketball team needed another healthy body for this season. It particularly needed one as talented as Jahvon Quinerly.

Alabama basketball coach Nate Oats was clearly as disappointed for his player, as he was concerned about the impact for his team. Oats admitted being both surprised and dismayed by the NCAA action.

The Crimson Tide does not have enough healthy bodies. West Virginia graduate transfer and Alex Reese are both dealing with nagging injuries. Herbert Jones missed the FAU game due to a hyper-extended elbow injury from the Tide’s season-opener. Forwards James Rojas and Juwan Gary are out for the season with knee injuries.

Don’t look for Nate Oats or his team to back down. Oats not only got his first win as the Crimson Tide head coach, he also got the first technical of his Tide career Monday night. Oats was vocal in complaining about the officiating and was eventually teed-up for being out of the coaches’ box.

The Tide won big over FAU, cruising to a 78-59 win. For the Tide, the game had highlights and lowlights. Redshirt freshman, Javian Davis was solid inside, scoring 19 points, pulling down nine rebounds and adding two assists. Freshman Jaden Shackelford had 17 points from 60 percent shooting. Kira Lewis Jr. added 16 points, six rebounds and eight assists. On 26 made field goals, the Crimson Tide made 21 assists.

The Tide did commit 19 turnovers, six of them by John Petty Jr. Petty also struggled shooting the ball with no made threes on four attempts and 25 percent shooting overall. Petty did contribute eight rebounds and five assists. The Crimson Tide out-rebounded FAU 45-32.

Team free throw shooting was also a plus at 77.3 percent. Javian Davis (7-for-9) and John Petty (5-for-6) led the Crimson Tide at the foul line. Kira Lewis was 2-for-2 at the line after missing two potential game-winners at the end of the Penn game.

Consistent with the Nate Oats system, the Crimson Tide attempted 29 threes but made only nine for a weak 31 percent.

Next up for Alabama basketball is an away game with Rhode Island this Friday. Nate Oats is hoping for some good recruiting news in the interim.