On Saturday the Alabama Crimson Tide strengthened its position on top of the SEC. Alabama scorched Texas A&M in Tuscaloosa, beating the Aggies, 100-75 and reaching a 10-2, SEC record.
Also on Saturday was the one-month-out preview, provided by the NCAA Tournament Committee, of college basketball's top 16 seeds for the Big Dance. The Crimson Tide was slotted as the overall No. 9 seed, making Nate Oats' team the current top, 3-seed team. Other SEC teams in the preliminary top 16 are Tennessee as a 2-seed and Auburn as the top 4-seed.
The Aggies came to Tuscaloosa with the SEC's third-highest scorer in Wade Taylor IV. Taylor went into the game averaging 19.8 points. He played 36 minutes against the Crimson Tide and produced just 10 points. Alabama's Mark Sears went into the game as No. 1 in the SEC with a scoring average of 20.5 points. Sears added to that average on Saturday, scoring 23 points against the Aggies.
The Crimson Tide shot 52% for the game, including a blistering 44% from outside the arc. The Aggies have been college basketball's top offensive rebounding team and they had success on the boards against the Tide. In total rebounds, it was 49-38 in favor of A&M and 26-14 in offensive rebounds.
After the game, Nate Oats pointed out the Aggies crushing the Crimson Tide with rebounding. The Tide head coach was positive about his team's improvement defensively.
"We were definitely improved. Not to the level I'd like to see us, not where we needed to be, but we were able to beat a pretty good team by 25."Nate Oats
A&M fans were disappointed in their team's defense. The problems for the Aggies had nothing to do with lack of effort. A&M had no defensive counter to Oats' offensive system. The Tide's spacing and crisp passing provided frequent open looks outside the arc. Alabama scored 54 of its 100 points from threes. In comparison to the Tide's 3-point success, the Aggies hit just 17% of their 23 long-range attempts.
Nate Oats' success with Alabama Basketball being noticed
The three tweets below are a few of the growing number of responses about what Nate Oats is accomplishing this season. Increasingly, when the nation's top roundball coaches are mentioned, Nate Oats name is included.
@AlabamaMBB scores like most people breathe. Fastest scoring offensive team in the nation. Sears is the kinda guard who can get you to a Final 4. No one has done a better job this year than @nate_oats
— Jimmy Dykes (@CoachJimmyDykes) February 17, 2024
Alabama destroys A&M to maintain their lead in the SEC standings.
— Aaron Torres (@Aaron_Torres) February 17, 2024
Don't think we fully appreciate what Bama is doing this year. Tide lost two first rounders and 5 of their top 6 scorers and still in first place.
EASILY the best coaching job of Nate Oats time at Bama 🐘🐘 pic.twitter.com/RHV7eUIiUF
That's 19 100-point games for Nate Oats in his Alabama tenure (2019-2024), with 8 of those coming this year. One of the greatest offensive minds in the game, truly a privilege to get a front row seat to watch his teams play. pic.twitter.com/N6ZPYCdfBE
— Jacob Pickle (@pickleo7) February 17, 2024
The season has a long way to go, but confidence in Alabama is growing. Alabama still has roster weaknesses, but for Bama fans, the 2023-24 Crimson Tide is a joy to behold.