Nate Oats's Ejection Unites the Crowd at Coleman Coliseum

Following the tossing of the Alabama head coach, the Crimson Tide mounted an 18-2 run on its way to an always important SEC win.

Author:
Clayton Connick
Publish date:
Feb 16, 2022 10:42 PM EST

TUSCALOOSA, Ala. - Needless to say, it was an interesting night in Coleman Coliseum as Alabama took down Mississippi State 80-75.

With 9:18 left in the game, Alabama head coach Nate Oats picked up a technical foul for chirping at the official. After just 44 seconds of gameplay, Oats picked up his second technical and was ejected from the game, gesturing towards the media section on his way out of the tunnel.

Following that hectic moment, Mississippi State gained tons of momentum with two more free throws and a pair of consecutive layups. The Bulldog lead was 64-57 with 7:45 remaining, as the Crimson Tide seemed initially to be lost without its sideline leader. The crowd at Coleman Coliseum was louder than ever, though, and Alabama turned things around in a big way, mounting an 18-2 run capped by a Darius Miles tomahawk slam.

"Just looking on your sideline and not having your head coach... I feel like guys really just wanted to win this game for him," Alabama guard Jahvon Quinerly said postgame. "The guys were just locked in the last eight minutes, it was good to see that."

"He fights for us, and we fight for him," Alabama center Charles Bediako calmly stated.

"The crowd was fired up, so it's good to know we got the crowd excited," Oats said. "Thank you to the crowd for picking up the energy when we needed it to be picked up, you know, this was a game we needed to win.

"I thought our players fed off the crowd energy."

Behind Oats stood Charlie Henry, who took over the head coach role for the final eight minutes. Henry was fired up along the court, and coaches Bryan Hodgson and Antoine Pettway motioned to the crowd to keep up the noise.

The players were impressed with Henry's adjustments on the fly, and Oats said that the staff did a 'good job' to complete the home SEC victory. It took everyone, but Alabama was able to overcome Mississippi State for its third consecutive win.