One thing we know is that Nate Oats is not a chicken. He was wet on Saturday night, but he wasn’t angry. He was happy, happy, happy in Starkville, Mississippi, where Alabama defeated the Mississippi State Bulldogs 64-59.
With that victory came Crimson Tide winning the regular season championship of the Southeast Conference this season, with two games to play. And with that championship came the players of Bama who included in their celebration the bath of their coach with a bucket of water.
There was also music and dancing in Tide’s dressing room as Alabama improved to 19-6, including a 14-2 SEC record.
Alabama has its last home game of the season when Tide hosts Auburn at 7 pm Tuesday at the Coleman Coliseum. Bama won the game at Auburn, 94-92, on 9 January. The Tide will end next Saturday in Georgia, and then start playing as number 1 in the SEC tournament, which takes place March 10-14 in Nashville.
Oats gave credit to three senior citizens from Alabama who are from the state – John Petty, Jr., from Madison, Herbert Jones from Greensboro and Alex Reese from Birmingham.
“If they didn’t agree, we are not doing it,” said Oats of the championship celebration.
“I told them, ‘This is your team,'” said Oats. “They wanted to change what people thought about basketball in Alabama, and they did.”
Still, he said the three veterans “Everyone shot badly” in the game to win the title, “they all played hard.”
This echoed Oats’ previous observation that sometimes kicks don’t fall, but that there are other ways to win games, especially in defense and rebound. And after a defeat in Arkansas earlier in the week, he emphasized “controlling what you can control”. On Saturday night, he said, “They did a good job of control.”
Oats said: “I am very proud of our players. Winning a SEC championship is not easy. They played a lot, the hardest we’ve played in a while. “
Guard Jahvon Quinerly, who left the bench but played 27 minutes, led Tide offensively with 19 points, 15 of them in the first half. Jaden Shackelford was the only other double-digit Tide player with 19. Herbert Jones scored just 2 points, but had 14 rebounds, including 6 offensive bags. Petty and James Rojas had 9 points each.
Alabama scored 21 of the 65 field goals, just 32.3%. The tide was 7-28 at three points, only 25 percent. Bama made 15-17 free throws.
The teams went in opposite directions in the pitches, as Alabama hit just 25.7% of its field goals in the second half, while the state of Mississippi reached 53.6% after the break. For the game, Bulldogs had 24-59 in the field (40.7%), but only 1-12 in three (8.3%) and 10-17 in free throws (58.8%).
Alabama beat dogs by 45-40, with Tide having 17 offensive boards, State 11. The state of Mississippi had a 36-26 lead in points in the painting and a 17-10 lead in second chance points.
Bama had 14 comebacks, the Bulldogs 16 with Tide scoring 12 points from the State, Dogs 11 from Alabama.
Alabama had 19 break points, the state of Mississippi 6.
The substitute Tide players scored 36 points, the state bank only 5.
Mississippi, which fell to 13-12 overall and 7-9 in the SEC, had three double-digit players – DJ Stewart with 15, Tolu Smith with 12 and Iverson Molinar with 11.
Alabama made it interesting, to say the least. Tide had a 13-point lead at the break, but the Bulldogs came out of the locker room and made a series of 8-2 before Bama straightened the ship and took the lead back to double digits.
State ran a late race. With 8 and a half minutes to play, Tide’s advantage was 10 points, 54-44. Bulldogs hitting free throws reduced to 7 and an exit tray reduced the lead to 54-49 with 6:15 to play.
A Shackelford tray stopped the bleeding, but moments later it was 56-53. Reserve striker James Rojas is one of the most unlikely three-point pitchers in a team full of these, but he hit a corner three with just under a minute to make it 59-53. From there, Bama finished with 5-6 free throws against the State’s four free kicks and an undisputed tray on the bell.
Quinerly had a solid performance in the first half, with the reserve guard scoring 15 points in the first half, including two in a counterattack, after a takedown that gave Bama a 34-21 lead in the interval.
Alabama had a 13-0 run in the middle of the interval, keeping the Bulldogs goalless while Tide went from a 7-9 9 basket to a 20-9 lead. Alabama maintained the 11-point margin for most of the rest of the half, while the state of Mississippi never approached 8. The only draw was 2-2 and there were only three changes of advantage, Tide leading the last 11 : 42 of the half.
The Bulldogs only made 9-32 field shots, 28%, and Alabama had a 26-19 lead on the rebound, 9 from Herbert Jones. Both teams had 11 twists and turns, but Alabama scored 11 points for state errors and the state did not score points for Bama’s twists and turns.
Tide notes: Alabama holders were Herb Jones, Jordan Bruner, and guards Josh Primo, John Petty Jr. and Jaden Shackelford.
When Alabama receives Auburn Tuesday, the break will include the presentation of the James E. Foy-ODK Sportsmanship Trophy to Alabama for Tide’s 42-13 victory over Tigers en route to the invincible Bama national championship season.
So Alabama won the SEC Men’s Football and Basketball Championship in the same academic year, the first time this has happened in the league since Florida did it in 1997. Bama has done it several times, but the last time was not recent … 1975-76.
Bama improved his all-time record against the state of Mississippi to 128-77. Tide ended a three-game losing streak at Starkville and now has a 43-55 record at State.