Playing without Labaron Philon, Alabama had little trouble completely dismantling Mississippi State in a 100-75 win on Wednesday night in Coleman Coliseum.
It was a bloodbath from the opening whistle. Alabama built a 15-5 lead at the first media timeout and never looked back. The Crimson Tide buried 16 three-pointers in the first half and took a 30-point lead into the locker room.
It was Alabama's seventh consecutive win, going from 4-4 in SEC play to now 11-4 and well-positioned to earn a double bye in the SEC Tournament. The Crimson Tide is red-hot, perhaps peaking at the right time.
Mississippi State head coach Chris Jans certainly agrees.
"They're a confident team right now. They're probably playing ... their best basketball of the year," Jans said.
Just don't tell that to Nate Oats, who only halfway agrees with Jans's statement. He was complimentary of how well the Crimson Tide played in the first half against the Bulldogs, but was incredulous with the second-half letdown.
“I thought the first half was the best basketball we’ve played all year," Oats said. ..."The ball was moving. It was crisp. Holloway and Wrightsell did a really good job taking care of it. Amari was hitting threes. As a team, we shot it well.
"In the second half, disappointed in the leadership. Didn’t think we played as hard. I thought we played the scoreboard too much. I was really disappointed in the second half, but super encouraged by our mentality going into the game."
Nate Oats was 'super disappointed' in how Alabama played in the 2nd half vs. Mississippi State
Alabama led 63-33 at halftime, and then spent the majority of the second half on cruise control. That didn't sit well with Oats, who was visibly frustrated on the bench for a good chunk of the second half. He even took a timeout during one particularly brutal stretch where the Bulldogs had gone on a 17-2 run just so he could rip his team in the huddle.
The game was never in doubt, but Oats was clearly disappointed that Alabama didn't finish the game the way it started. It's about playing to a standard - not the scoreboard. That mentality should sound pretty familiar to Tide fans.
Alabama ultimately lost the second half by five, scoring just 37 offensively after the barrage of the first 20 minutes.
Oats has the Crimson Tide playing well. You don't win seven straight games by accident. But Oats also knows that this team has higher potential on both ends of the floor, and is doing everything he can - even in the middle of a blowout win - to pull it out of them.
That's what it's going to take to make a serious run in March