Nate Oats Warns Alabama: Illinois Will Win If This Key Issue Isn’t Fixed

Rarely will you see a college basketball team knock down 16 three-pointers and still lose the game. (To put that number in perspective, the most threes Illinois has ever hit in a game as a team is 18.) Yet last week against Purdue, that is exactly what happened to Alabama.

The Crimson Tide found nylon on 16 shots from beyond the arc – and still fell to the Boilermakers, 87-80. Often, despite what coaches may say, games get decided by a wide variety of factors – but that wasn't so in this case. There was a singular reason Alabama lost on Thursday night: rebounding.

Alabama's lackluster performance on the boards leads to loss against Purdue

Nov 13, 2025; Tuscaloosa, Alabama, USA; Alabama Crimson Tide head coach Nate Oats calls a play during the second half against the Purdue Boilermakers at Coleman Coliseum. Mandatory Credit: David Leong-Imagn Images | David Leong-Imagn Images

The Crimson Tide were outrebounded 52-28 by the Boilermakers in – let's just call it what it was – an abysmal performance on the glass. The kicker: Purdue’s lead guard Braden Smith, who is maybe 6 feet tall wearing sneakers, had more rebounds (seven) than Alabama’s starting frontcourt combined (six).

Of the Boilermakers’ 40 missed shots from the field, they took back possession on nearly half of them back – that's 19 offensive rebounds – despite taking only 21 threes (which tend to be the shot that leads to the most offensive rebounds).

As expected, Alabama coach Nate Oats was not happy with his team’s performance on the glass – and he is seemingly even more worried about the Tide's next opponent: Illinois.

“Shoot, we got another really good one," he said in the aftermath of Bama's loss to Purdue. "Illinois looked great against Texas Tech. … They’re bigger than Purdue."

Why Illinois is set to control the glass on Wednesday night against Alabama

Feb 25, 2025; Champaign, Illinois, USA; Iowa Hawkeyes forward Chris Tadjo (34) and Illinois Fighting Illini forward Ben Humrichous (3) battle for position during the second half at State Farm Center. Mandatory Credit: Ron Johnson-Imagn Images | Ron Johnson-Imagn Images

Not only do the Illini boast tremendous positional size, as Brad Underwood-led teams often do, but they are perhaps the best rebounding team in the country. Through four games, their rebounding margin is plus-21.8, which is good for second in the nation (Tennessee ranks No. 1).

It's worth noting that Alabama got blasted on the glass by a Purdue team that lost the rebounding battle to mid-major Oakland in its previous outing. (To be fair, the Boilermakers were without forward Trey Kaufman-Renn in that game.)

Meanwhile, Illinois is coming off a dominant rebounding performance against Colgate (winning a 49-29 margin), which included 21 boards from freshman forward David Mirkovic alone.

Illinois freshman David Mirkovic just WENT OFF 😳

27 PTS | 21 REB pic.twitter.com/EezjT7hMw7
— B/R Hoops (@brhoops) November 15, 2025

It goes without saying (even if it’s Oats’ job to say it): If the Crimson Tide don’t get their act together, the Illini will be having an early Thanksgiving all-you-can-eat buffet on the glass – and will surely leave Chicago with a victory.

“If we don’t get our rebounding fixed at Illinois," Oats said, "we’re not going to be able to win that game either."