Alabama always faces a hostile crowd when playing on the road against Auburn, but that's been even more true in the last two meetings with Aden Holloway on the Crimson Tide's roster.
After spending his freshman season at Auburn, Holloway quickly realized the error of his ways and transferred to Tuscaloosa to play for Nate Oats. Alabama-Auburn was already a major rivalry on the hardwood, but Holloway's transfer across the rivalry lines made it even more hostile.
Add in Charles Bediako's controversial addition to the team, and Auburn fans were out for blood in the Jungle.
But that just made Alabama's 96-92 win over Auburn, the second straight for the Crimson Tide in Neville Arena, all the sweeter.
And Oats wasn't afraid to twist the knife a bit in the postgame when he was asked about how Holloway handles playing on the road against the Tigers with all the hostility.
"He's not bothered by it; he knew it was coming," Oats said. "That's what they do. ...They were pretty quiet when we left today. The best way to quiet them is to just win on the scoreboard. They were quiet last year; they were quiet this year. He's 2-0 coming back here."
Nate Oats rubbed Alabama's win in the face of Auburn fans
Holloway is indeed 2-0 in games played at Neville as a visitor. Alabama beat Auburn on Senior Day on the Plains a year ago thanks to an overtime buzzer-beater by Mark Sears. Holloway was pretty quiet in the game, however, scoring just five points off the bench.
This time around, however, Holloway shook off a rough first half to score 11 of his 15 points in the final 20 minutes, including seven in the clutch.
Holloway canned a three-pointer with under 2:40 to go while getting fouled and converted the free throw for a four-point play. That pushed Alabama's lead from two to six. After a pair of Auburn free throws, Holloway hit a crazy runner in the lane to push the lead back to six. He also hit a pair of clutch free throws after that.
It had to be a cathartic experience for the former Auburn guard to make pivotal plays to beat them, particularly with how hostile that fanbase has been toward him.
And Oats made sure to let them know it.