Alabama coach Nate Oats was brutally honest about Kentucky's passing ability

Kentucky struggled badly moving the ball all game in their loss to Alabama.

Jan 3, 2026; Tuscaloosa, AL, USA; Alabama head coach Nate Oats yells to a player on the bench to enter the game at Coleman Coliseum. Alabama downed Kentucky 89-74. Mandatory Credit: Gary Cosby Jr.-Tuscaloosa News | Gary Cosby Jr.-Tuscaloosa News / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

The Kentucky Wildcats did something against the #14 Alabama Crimson Tide on Saturday that has been common in their losses against power conference opponents. They got punched in the mouth and struggled to respond. Mark Pope teams at Kentucky have a tendency to fall behind in games quickly, and that was more of the same against the Crimson Tide.

Kentucky allowed an 8-0 run by Alabama to start the game, which was the point at which they never gained the lead back from then on. They didn't just not regain the lead, the Wildcats were outworked in basically every aspect of the game. A lot of the key talking points have been Kentucky's lack of defense, especially closing out on shooters, but Kentucky failed to get good looks of their own all game. The Wildcats were tripled in three-point makes, as they made just four, while Alabama made 15 on the day.

The Wildcats struggled to get good looks, and a big part of that was Alabama's ability to take those opportunities away. Kentucky shot 21 percent in the game, and the assist-turnover ratio was down, as they had just 9 assists to 12 turnovers. Alabama completely shut Kentucky's offense down, even with point guard Jaland Lowe on the floor. Head coach Nate Oats revealed his team's gameplan to slow Kentucky's offense, and his comments were pretty telling.

Here's what Oats said in response to how they were able to disrupt Kentucky's offensive rhythm: ""I had our guys pull every assist they had coming in, because when I watched them play, I didn't feel like they moved the ball great," Oats said. He then added that with Kentucky, he noticed on film that the bigs rarely pass. "They had seven assists out of the post in 13 games coming in. They're not trying to pass."

That is very concerning if you're a Kentucky fan, because with a team that feeds off of high assist numbers with essentially constant ball movement, smart coaches like Nate Oats are starting to figure out how to slow it. Kentucky has a high assist rate on the reason, and a part of that is due to playing teams ranked 250+ in college basketball, but in their games against quality teams, that's an area they've struggled, aside from Indiana.

That could be an area top teams begin to exploit more now that Oats and Alabama have proven how to slow Kentucky down.