Alabama Basketball: Tide wins big to go 2-0, Nate Oats not happy with defense

The Alabama Basketball opponent Friday night was little known to many fans of SEC basketball. The South Dakota State Jackrabbits won the Summit League last season with a 15-6 record. After one conference tournament win, Oral Roberts ended their chances for an NCAA Tournament bid. They are predicted to win the Summit League again this season. It is not a tough prediction given every Jackrabbit from last season returned for 2021-22.

After the game, Alabama Basketball coach, Nate Oats thanked South Dakota State, saying,

"We appreciate them coming over. This is a quality team. They gave us a great game, and we knew they would. They gave us everything we could handle."

The Jackrabbits did put up a fight. The Crimson Tide led by just three points at halftime and the Tide lead was only five points with 10:20 to go in the second half. In less than three minutes five points became a 16-point lead as the Tide raced away to a 104-88 victory.

Jahvon Quinerly and Jaden Shackelford led the Tide in scoring with 26 and 23 points. Keon Ellis had 15 points on just 10 shots. Darius Miles scored 13 and Charles Bediako added 12 points. Ellis also had 13 rebounds, three assists and a steal.

https://twitter.com/AlabamaMBB/status/1459370092286910473

In two games, Ellis has quickly shown he can be one of the SEC’s best players.

Despite the win and solid performances, Nate Oats was not satisfied. The Alabama Basketball defense concerns Oats.

"We got to play harder all the time. This is a good win against a really good team, I don’t want to take anything away from it, but our defense isn’t anywhere close to where it needs to be right now."

Nate Oats offered praise for freshman, seven-footer, Charles Bediako.

"He’s looked good in practice. He’s a lob target. … He’s doing a really good job on both ends of the floor and gives us that rim protection we need…We were significantly better when Charles Bediako was in the game. He obviously anchored the defense."

The bad news Friday night was an ankle injury to Juwan Gary. Gary will need an MRI to determine the extent of the injury. Juwan has missed considerable action in his Crimson Tide career because of injuries. He is a key player and hopefully can return soon.

Nate Oats wants more from his team and stated the Tide must play better Tuesday against South Alabama. When he makes the Tide better, and he will – this could be a special season.