Alabama's Nate Oats reveals what took him by surprise in Purdue loss

11/16/2024 11:36 AM

Alabama basketball coach Nate Oats is opening up about his team’s struggles against Purdue. The Crimson Tide dropped a key non conference game to the Boilermakers Friday, and Oats is not happy with how his team guarded one particular player.

“I didn’t know he was that good,” Oats said after the contest, per the Journal and Courier. Oats was referring to Purdue’s Trey Kaufman-Renn, who burned the Crimson Tide. He finished the game with 26 points in 30 minutes of action.

Alabama basketball dropped the game 87-78. It was a big win for Purdue basketball, who is rebuilding after losing big man Zach Edey from last year’s NCAA Final Four team.

Alabama basketball struggled on defense against Purdue

The Crimson Tide are considered one of the best teams in college basketball this season. Alabama entered the Purdue game with a no. 2 overall ranking in the Associated Press College Basketball poll.

Alabama will have to play much better moving forward to live up to that ranking. The squad struggled to defend the three; Purdue shot 56 percent from the perimeter. The Boilermakers also shot close to 50 percent from the field in the game, despite being out rebounded by Alabama.

Despite the loss, there are some hopeful signs for the Crimson Tide. The squad had four players go into double figures, including Labaron Philon. Philon led the way with 18 points. Grant Nelson posted a double-double, with 12 points and 11 rebounds. Alabama basketball battled hard on the glass, and also shot 44 percent from the field.

Oats still was frustrated with how his squad defended Purdue. The Boilermakers muscled their way inside the low post, and exposed Alabama in that area.

"The coaching staff's got to do a better job prepping for post-ups like that. We got to do a better job getting our shooters open,” Oats said, per On3. “We didn't do a great job getting our shooters open, and then shoot, you got to give them a lot of credit, though.”

Oats is happy with the fact that his team now knows what issues they are facing. Alabama basketball was able to force just three turnovers against the Boilermakers.

"We schedule these games for a reason, where we'd like to go against the best teams in the country and figure out what we got work on. We've got plenty to work on after this game,” Oats added.

Alabama basketball next plays Illinois on Wednesday.

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