On Wednesday night in Tuscaloosa, the Alabama Crimson Tide played their final home game of the 2024-25 college basketball season against the visiting Florida Gators.
In a hard-fought ranked matchup, Alabama fell 99-94, which brought their overall record to 23-7 and 12-5 in SEC play.
After the game, Alabama head coach Nate Oats shared his thoughts on the Crimson Tide’s performance in the loss, as well as the team’s upcoming regular season finale at Auburn on Saturday. Below are some of Oats’ comments following the Florida loss, along with a video of his full press conference from Wednesday night.
Nate Oats’ opening statement after loss vs. Florida
“Give Florida a lot of credit. I mean, they came in and looked like they had more energy to be honest with you, so I don’t know if it’s a lag from the tough loss at Tennessee, or if our guys are just tired, I don’t know. To get out-rebounded by 15, we knew they’re a tough rebounding team, but we’re usually better than that when we go into a game knowing we’ve got to rebound. It seemed like they beat us to about every 50/50 ball. They obviously destroyed us on the glass. Second chance points they had us doubled. I think we gave up 26 fast break points according to our stats which is terrible. 26 fast break and 19 second chance, that’s 45. That’s about half their points came on second chance and transition, so we got to be better. It doesn’t matter what your game plan is if you don’t get back on defense and can’t get a rebound.”
Nate Oats on not panicking after Florida loss
“I’m not panicked we’re losing. It’s more concerning how we lost. Getting outrebounded by 15 and just not getting the 50/50 balls. I think Florida had more pop, more energy than us. That’s concerning to me.”
Nate Oats on upcoming game at Auburn
“We’re going to have to figure it out before we go to Auburn. We’ve got to go to the No. 1 team in the country to their place. It’s going to be a tough game for us there. We’re playing for SEC and NCAA Tournament seeding.”
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