Nate Oats Says Purdue 'Embarrassed' Alabama in One Area Thursday Night

It wasn't just the 87-80 final score that bothered Nate Oats after No. 8 Alabama's loss to No. 2 Purdue on Thursday night in Tuscaloosa. He was also pretty peeved about the final numbers in the rebound column.

Purdue was dominant on the glass on Thursday, outrebounding Alabama 52-28. That included 19 offensive rebounds for the Boilermakers, which led to 16 second-chance points.

Oats was clearly frustrated with his team's effort on the glass on Thursday night, saying the Crimson Tide got "embarrassed" by the Boilermakers in that area.

“They’re one of the most disciplined teams; they run all their stuff in the halfcourt, they know how to attack your coverages. But, at the end of the day, the tougher team won tonight. They outrebounded us by 24. That’s embarrassing."

Trey Kaufman-Renn and Oscar Cluff did most of the damage on the glass for Purdue. Kaufman-Renn ended the night with 15 boards and Cluff collected 11. Those two accounted for half of the Boilermakers' total rebounds.

It was a big step up for Purdue, which had struggled to rebound without Kaufman-Renn in its first two games against Evansville and Oakland.

Purdue Boilermakers center Oscar Cluff (45) rebounds | David Leong-Imagn Images

But Oats was particularly upset with point guard Braden Smith finishing the game with seven boards. Alabama's leading rebounders had only four in the game, led by Aiden Sherrell, Labaron Philon Jr., and Amari Allen.

“I think he’s the best point guard in the country. We’ll see how it plays out, but I think he showed it tonight — 29, seven, and four is pretty good," Oats said. "He had seven rebounds, and our leading rebounder had four. I don’t know what they list him at, I don’t want to disrespect him, but I’d guess 5-foot-10, and he has seven rebounds, and our starting frontcourt has six combined.”

Despite the large discrepancy on the boards, Alabama found itself with a chance to win the game in the final two minutes. With the game tied 80-80, Purdue closed out the contest on a 7-0 run to leave Tuscaloosa with the win.

The Tide may have been close, but Oats said his team didn't deserve to get the victory on Thursday night. Alabama's effort on the glass is a big reason why.

"In life, in sports, the team that plays harder, people who work harder, whatever field you’re in, should win," Oats said. "They won. They deserved to win. They were tougher.”

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