Nate Oats Hopes to See Alabama Basketball Seniors Get First Win in Auburn Arena
TUSCALOOSA, Ala. — Alabama men’s basketball is gearing up for its first matchup against Auburn on Saturday, traveling down to the Plains to take on a Tigers team that hasn’t had the start to the season that many expected.
While the rivalry has always existed in some capacity due to the Iron Bowl in football, the rivalry has increased in intensity over the last few seasons due to the success that Auburn has had on the hardwood along with the hiring of Alabama head coach Nate Oats in 2019.
Even though Oats is in just his second year with the program, he’s well aware of the intensity of the rivalry and the significance that it means to both teams’ fanbases.
“Big game, obviously,” Oats said during his press conference on Friday afternoon. “Big rivalry game. They’re going to be ready to go. We know that. They do a great job getting their guys fired up. They shoot a lot of threes so we’re going to have to defend the three-point line really well. We’re just going to have to play hard.
“Last time we went into their gym they were ready to go and we weren’t — we were down 16-0 before you could blink your eyes. We were scrambling the rest of the game starting out giving them a 16-point lead. We can’t do that. This game we gotta come out ready to go on the defensive end. We got to take care of the ball offensively. It’s going to be a good test for us.”
Heading into Saturday’s game, Alabama has had a 3-0 start to SEC play, handily beating Ole Miss, No. 7 Tennessee and perennial powerhouse Florida. Auburn, on the other hand, has had an 0-3 start to their SEC season, losing to Arkansas, Texas A&M and Ole Miss.
Despite the tough start for the Tigers, Oats believes that this is a team that should not be underestimated.
“We’ve had a good start,” Oats said. “They obviously haven’t had the start that they were looking for but they’re still a good team. They’re in games. This is not like we’re going in to play a bad Auburn team — this is a good team. They lost a lot of guys from last year. They’re younger, they’re figuring themselves out, they were missing their point guard last game so that obviously hurt them for execution on offense. We’re going to be in for a dogfight, we know that.”
Last season, the Crimson Tide went 1-1 against the Tigers, thumping them in Coleman Coliseum by a margin of 83-64 and handing No. 4 Auburn its first loss of the season, then turning around and losing a hard-fought game in Auburn Arena 95-91.
In fact, Alabama hasn’t won a game in Auburn Arena since Feb. 17, 2015. That was before any current player that is on the team had ever even committed to the Crimson Tide.
Alabama has three seniors hailing from the state of Alabama in guard John Petty Jr., wing Herb Jones and forward Alex Reese. Since they all joined the program in 2017, none of them have ever left the Plains with a win.
Oats hopes to change that in their senior season.
“And those seniors — the three seniors from the state of Alabama that you were talking about in Herb and Alex and JP — we want them to have a great senior year,” Oats said. “They came in as a really good class. Those were the three guys from the state of Alabama in that class. They’re all still here and we want to win something with those guys from that class. […] These three guys are here still so it’d be great to get some real quality wins for their senior year and win on the road in Auburn. It would be a huge win for those guys.
“Obviously they haven’t won there yet if it’s been six years so it’d be nice to get them their first win at Auburn their senior year. I think the guys are prepared, ready, focused. I think our last two days of practice have been great. I think the guys are really locked in.”
Despite the tough start, Auburn still fields a talented roster that could present problems for the Crimson Tide. The Tigers' bigs are athletic and can run run the floor as well as shoot. When you combine that aspect with the rest of Auburn's talented shooters, this team can still win a lot of basketball games.
Reese was quick to say that while Auburn might have gotten off to a rocky start in SEC play, it's tough to win games in the SEC and that this team still presents a threat.
"I mean, really in this league it's so tough to win games," Reese said. "I don't think it really matters who's on the court for anybody. Every night there could be teams that lose that maybe shouldn't lose or win that maybe people didn't think were gonna win so this league's just really tough this year and it's pretty even."
Alabama and Auburn are scheduled for an 11 a.m. CT tipoff on Saturday and will be broadcast on ESPN2.
