Alabama Basketball: Nate Oats’ comments after Sweet 16 OT loss

Alabama Basketball: The UCLA Bruins ended the Crimson Tide’s NCAA Tournament run with an upset, overtime win in the Sweet Sixteen.

For Alabama Basketball, NCAA Tournament dreams ended with a loss in the Sweet Sixteen. The UCLA Bruins dominated the Crimson Tide in overtime to win easily 88-78. The game was tied at 65-65 when Alex Reese nailed an NBA range three-point shot with four-tenths of a second left in regulation.

UCLA jumped out to a five-point lead, less than a minute into the overtime period. The Bruins never looked back. It was a tough defeat to accept for the Alabama Basketball program and Crimson Tide fans. Losing an NCAA Tournament game is no shame, particularly for a team that plays well and comes up short.

For too much of Sunday night’s game, the Crimson Tide did not play well. Losing Herbert Jones for important minutes of the first-half provided early stress. Jones picked up his second foul 41 seconds into the game. UCLA led by 11 points at halftime. Without or with Jones in the lineup, the Crimson Tide made too many first-half turnovers, while also missing too many shots.

The Crimson Tide made a second-half comeback and tied the game at the 8:22 mark. Nate Oats’ team managed some second-half leads but never by more than two points. UCLA led by three with four seconds to go. The Tide used the few seconds perfectly, setting up Reese’s heroics.

Following the game, Nate Oats made these comments,

"We weren’t good enough to beat them tonight. They were better tonight. They hit some tough shots.It’s a historic season. I don’t want them to walk out of this locker room with their heads down. You can make the argument this is one of the best Alabama basketball teams in history.Let’s not forget this feeling. We’ll be back. Really proud of the guys, really disappointed with tonight.I’m gonna remember it as the team that changed the entire culture of Alabama basketball. Expectation levels are drastically different, recruiting’s different. … I told our guys, I’m gonna be talking about this team for the next 30 years I’m coaching."

Nate Oats said everything needing to be said. The progress from a 16-15 season in 2019-20 to the NCAA Sweet Sixteen a year later was outstanding. In most Crimson Tide basketball seasons, winning two SEC Championships and maybe an NCAA Tournament win would exceed expectations.

Those days are over for the Crimson Tide.

It is a time to look ahead to a bright future instead of agonizing over losing a game from the foul line and outside the arc. Teams don’t win Sweet Sixteen games, making 25 percent of threes and going 11-for-25 at the foul line for 44 percent. Under Nate Oats, it is not likely to happen again.

John Petty Jr. paid Nate Oats a supreme compliment after the loss, saying, “He was just the perfect coach to come in and turn this program around.” Well said, young man.