'I Probably Should've Called Timeout': Nate Oats Reacts to Last Drive vs. Ole Miss

NASHVILLE — On paper, Alabama should've never been in the position it was in late on Friday evening against Ole Miss in the SEC Tournament quarterfinal.

The 2-seed Crimson Tide clawed back from being down 14 points and cut it to one with 13 seconds remaining. The Rebels proceeded to miss its 1-and-1 free throw attempt and Alabama hauled in the rebound.

UA still had three timeouts to draw up a play, but head coach Nate Oats let his team play it out. Crimson Tide First Team All-SEC guard Labaron Philon Jr. drove inside and passed it up to forward Aiden Sherrell, and the big man was blocked from behind with under a second to go.

Oats shared his thoughts of Alabama's final full possession during the postgame press conference.

"Yeah, one, I wish he would have taken it 'cause I think kind of gave it there to Aiden in a tough spot," Oats said. "I thought he was open on a midrange. Probably should have called timeout. It's one of those we talked about. If we get a miss, we're in the flow, we think we got pretty good players that we get our spacing right, rather let them make plays before the defense gets set."

Philon also detailed his mindset during the play, as the clock continued to tick down.

“I saw him down low, just trying to give him an opportunity to go with the ball," Philon said. I gave him an opportunity, but those guys, like coach said, played with a lot of confidence. In that moment, [I was] just trying to make the right play, really, but those guys came out with a stop.”

Philon, like most games, had the hot hand during the second half. He finished the game with a team-high 28 points, including 16 in the latter period. The sophomore has taken and made numerous clutch shots this season, but this time it was passed up.

Philon has broken his career high in scoring several times this season, as his current best is 35 points during the double overtime win over Arkansas. But perhaps his best moment was the game-winning shot on the road against Tennessee, which broke a five-game losing streak to the Volunteers.

"When you got a player like him, sometimes you're better off not getting too tricky as a coach," Oats said during the Tennessee postgame press conference. "Trying to get the matchup, we knew they were going to switch. They switched a lot. Try to get the matchup in the switch that we want.

"Give him some space and let him do what he does. He goes and gets buckets. He hits tough buckets. ... But yeah, the last play of the game, get the ball in his hands and let him make something happen."

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