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Alabama Basketball has a showcase game Saturday morning in Norman, OK in the SEC-Big 12 Challenge. Beating the Sooners will be a challenge.
Nate Oats has the Alabama basketball team to the point when a January game is about NCAA Tournament seeding. The last Alabama Crimson Tide basketball team in a similar position was the 2001-02 team. Since then, the Crimson Tide has spent the second half of seasons worried about the NCAA ‘Bubble’ or worse, not in contention for the ‘Big Dance.’
Februarys have usually been unkind to Alabama Basketball since Wimp Sanderson was the Tide Head Coach. There is no reasonable reason to fear February this season. The Crimson Tide officially kicks off February, next Wednesday in Tuscaloosa against LSU. Saturday’s game against the NCAA NET, ranked, No. 20 Oklahoma Sooners is really the start to a Tide quest for a high NCAA Tournament seed.
The Sooners had a rough 20 days in late December and early January. During a four-game period, Oklahoma lost to Texas Tech, Baylor and Kansas. The only win of the four games was over then No. 9 West Virginia. Since then the Sooners have won four straight, including victories over No. 9 Kansas and in their last game, a road win over No. 5 Texas. The Sooners are 10-4 overall and 8-1 in Norman.
On Friday, Alabama coach Nate Oats spoke about the game and his team.
"We’re excited to play Oklahoma. They’re a good quality team, well-coached. Playing as well as they’ve played all year.I’ve got a ton of respect for Coach Kruger. I think he does things the right way, he’s built a program and culture. They’re unselfish, the ball moves, high IQ guys, older veteran guys that know what they’re doing."
Based on Oats’ perspective of the Sooners, they have some similarities to the Crimson Tide. One difference is Oats’ team is banged up. Jordan Bruner will not be available for two to three more weeks. Herbert Jones, James Rojas and Alex Reese have missed most of or all the practices since the Kentucky game.
Nate Oats has scaled back practices because of the injuries. Also, at this stage of the season not pushing hard practices is best for all his players.
"We typically start scaling back practices mid-January. We want our guys playing best basketball mid-March, not mid-January. Gotta be smart with load management, in a grind. Now, can’t afford too many more injuries."
Oats likely did not have to advise his team that Saturday’s game is important. Adhering to strict attention to detail, he told them anyway.
"I told them, this game will go a long way come seeding time in March. Oklahoma’s next games will be against quality teams. This is the highest-ranked team left on our schedule."
The game will be intense. The Sooners have NCAA seeding on their minds, just like the Crimson Tide. Boosted by the return of their best, big man, 6-feet-9, senior center, Brady Manek and led by do everything, 6-feet-5 guard, Austin Reaves, the Sooners can put up numbers. Reaves leads the team in scoring, rebounds and assists, but does not concentrate on threes.
Oklahoma does not share the Tide’s focus on shooting the long ball, making an average of just 8.1 per game. Manek and two Oklahoma guards, De’Vion Harmon and Umloja Gibson are accurate outside the arc. Gibson has made 42 percent of the 69 three attempts taken this season. The Sooners are good at the foul line, shooting 75.1 percent as a team.
The January Challenge between the Big 12 and the SEC goes back to the 2014 season. The Crimson Tide beat Kansas State last season. Overall, the Big 12 has the upper hand with a 40-29 record.