Nate Oats Details Coaching 'Mistakes' From Alabama's Loss to Arizona

The Crimson Tide head coach discusses the lack of playing time for Jalil Bethea and Davion Hannah, while also mulling over Aden Holloway's quiet night.

Alabama guard Jalil Bethea travels up the court in the first half of the CM Newton Classic on Dec. 13, 2025. | Sarah Munzenmaier/Alabama Crimson Tide on SI

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. — The only real mistake is the one from which we learn nothing.

No. 12 Alabama men's basketball has some errors on its mind following its 96-75 loss to No. 1 Arizona on Saturday night. It was the fourth-largest losing margin for the Crimson Tide under head coach Nate Oats, and it occurred in front of a Legacy Arena crowd heavily represented by Alabama supporters.

There's no doubt that the differences in the offensive rebounding category were the main story from the blowout loss, as the Wildcats won that battle 22-3. And as the Crimson Tide front court really struggled in this area, guard Davion Hannah was never put into the game to help.

"I mean, the turnovers were an issue and Davion's had an issue turning the ball over," Oats said during the postgame press conference. "But obviously in hindsight, I maybe should've played those guys a little more because the guys I played didn't work. Davion plays hard, he probably could help fix the rebounding issue, just the turnover rate has been really high."

This isn't the first time Oats admitted to "a mistake on my part," regarding a lack of playing time for Hannah, as the freshman only played for five minutes in the loss to Purdue due to a lingering tailbone injury. Oats said after that game that he was "not 100 percent, but I maybe should have played him more, because he is tough." For reference, Purdue tallied 19 offensive rebounds that night in Coleman Coliseum.

While Hannah never even saw time on the floor, fellow Alabama guard Jalil Bethea only played for three minutes, including the final moments of the already-decided contest. The Miami transfer addition missed the first seven games of the season after suffering a foot injury during a practice in mid-September.

Bethea played five minutes against Clemson, but in 22 minutes against UTSA last Sunday, he erupted for 21 points with six rebounds and two steals. Obviously, there's a big difference between a sub-.500 mid-major and No. 1 team in the country, but Bethea was coming off a stellar performance in his first game in crimson and white with impactful minutes.

"Jalil probably needed a few more minutes," Oats said. "Turnovers were an issue, but shoot, the guys I played turned it over 15 times. It's one of those games, in hindsight, I probably made some mistakes. I probably should've played a few guys for more minutes because the guys we had in there obviously didn't get the job done very well."

While these two guards were 100 percent healthy coming into the C.M. Newton Classic, the same could not be said for Aden Holloway. The junior missed the last two games after reaggravating a wrist injury, and while Oats played him for 21 minutes against the Wildcats, he was silent with zero points and just two shot attempts.

Oats didn't say that it was a mistake to play Holloway, as he came into this one as a game-time decision. Of course, if one of your star players has a decent shot to face the nation's top team, coaches and trainers will do everything in their power in a safe manner to make that a reality. However, it didn't seem like he was ready.

"The wrist is obviously bothering him," Oats said. "This isn't how he usually is. He wasn't aggressive like he usually is. I think he was tough, he tried to play for his teammates and make it go. But I mean, he wasn't even shooting threes.

"He shot some [the day before the game]. He was able to get it up, thought he'd have to get his legs more into it, but obviously he wasn't comfortable. He's a lot better than what he showed tonight and he's played a lot better for us in the past ... him getting healthy would be a big part of what we do."

Oats and Alabama aim to build on these mistakes in the Crimson Tide's next game at home against South Florida. Bulls head coach Bryan Hodgson was an assistant under Oats at Buffalo (2015-19) and UA (2019-23).

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