Inside the Practice That Led Alabama Basketball to Take Down Texas A&M

The Crimson Tide needed a spark after being dismantled by Florida on Sunday, and Tuesday was "as intense a practice as we've had since nonconference."

Feb 4, 2026; Tuscaloosa, Alabama, USA; Alabama Crimson Tide guard Labaron Philon (0), forward Aiden Sherrell (22) and forward Amari Allen (5) react to a foul on guard Aden Holloway (2) during the second half against the Texas A&M Aggies at Coleman Coliseum. Mandatory Credit: David Leong-Imagn Images | David Leong-Imagn Images

TUSCALOOSA, Ala. — Alabama basketball needed some sort of spark.

The Crimson Tide came into Wednesday night's home game against Texas A&M unranked for the first time since January 2024 and sat ninth in the SEC standings. Alabama head coach Nate Oats said on Tuesday that this game against the first-place Aggies could be a potential "tipping point," as the Tide could either go on a run with a win or finish conference play with an even record.

But according to Oats, "That's not what anybody came here to do." UA outlasted Texas A&M 100-97 in a game that had 28 lead changes. This was an even battle from start to finish, and this mentality against a team that came into the night with just one loss in SEC play came just three days after being slaughtered by Florida 100-77 on the road.

"I'll say this, our guys stepped up, took some ownership," Oats said after the win over Texas A&M. "Some guys [went] in front of the team, [saying] it was embarrassing in Florida. In order to change some stuff, you've got to admit you're wrong.

"I think some guys admitted their effort wasn't where it needed to be, their mind wasn't where it needed to be and we got to turn this thing around. So I think it was more of an internal thing. We've got to get internal leadership from the players. I think it started to step up."

After Alabama players took accountability, the next step was to prove and make up for it on the court. Practice is a great way to let the frustration out, and Oats claimed that Tuesday was "as intense a practice as we've had since nonconference" play.

It had all the makings of a great practice, and it was exactly what Oats was looking for to help turn the Tide around.

"Some guys went at each other, some guys challenged some other guys," Oats said. "I thought it was great. We did more live stuff, kind of good-on-good first. Then we kind of mixed the guys, it wasn't first team, second team necessarily. You know, we had Amari [Allen] and Labaron [Philon] going at it.

"When we got together at the end of practice and went against our scout team, I thought they did a really good job of pulling themselves together, realizing we are the same team. We challenge each other in practice to make each other better and then we've got to pull together, be on the same team, when we played together. I thought we were better that way tonight. Competed a lot harder."

Of course, as perfect as the practice may have been both physically and mentally, it wouldn't mean much if Alabama lost to Texas A&M. Oats shared what he discussed with the Crimson Tide in the moments leading up to tipoff.

"We needed to win badly," Oats said. "Sunday was a disaster, one of the most embarrassing games I've ever been involved with in my life, to be honest with you. ... I told them before the game, 'Just because you have your mind right doesn't mean everything's going to go well. We're going to still face some adversity.'"

Alabama moves up to 5-4 in SEC play and will face Auburn on the road in the Iron Bowl of Basketball on Saturday, Feb. 7.

"We just think the guys really wanted to win," Oats said. "They made some tough plays when we needed to, and I'm happy for the guys."

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