Why Nate Oats and Alabama basketball are 'concerned' facing clone Kentucky offense

Why Nate Oats and Alabama basketball are ‘concerned’ facing clone Kentucky offense

Posted by Admin January 16, 2025 Basketball

The odds are stacked for Alabama basketball this weekend.

No. 9 Kentucky leads the series with the Crimson Tide, 114-40. After Tuesday, the fifth-ranked team in the country enters a daunting Rupp Arena coming off what Nate Oats called a “disappointing” loss to No. 21 Ole Miss.

Granted, Alabama (14-3) is 3-1 in its last four outings against UK (14-3), while in Coleman Coliseum, the Tide hasn’t always traveled well against the eight-time national champions.

Battling a 10-57 record on the road against Kentucky (14-3), UA looks to get back in the win column. Here are three things to know.

Nate Oats says Crimson Tide ‘should be concerned’ about offense

Alabama is no longer the country’s sole leader in scoring offense, now sharing No. 1 in the nation with Iowa.

The Crimson Tide went from averaging 91.1 points per game to 89.5 following Tuesday, which saw UA’s lowest scoring performance since losing to San Diego State in the 2023 NCAA Tournament.

Kentucky sits at No. 3 in the country with an average 88.7 points per game.

From BYU to Lexington, Oats’ analytics-driven system has been the model for Mark Pope’s offensive philosophy. As Alabama’s three-point struggles continue, threes are falling for the Cats, spreading the floor to shoot 36%, while Kentucky’s perimeter defense holds opponents to just 28.1%. That stat ranks 11th in the country and fifth in the SEC.

When asked about the state of Alabama’s offense as the schedule gets more grueling down the stretch, Oats was blunt.

“I think we should all be pretty concerned, to be honest with you,” Oats said.

Kentucky fields five double-digit scorers in starters Otega Oweh, Lamont Butler, Jaxson Robinson and Andrew Carr. Koby Brea is coming off the bench to average 11.3 points per game and serves as the team’s top three-point shooter, making 47% on the season. Putting up 9.8 points per game, Amari Williams should join the club soon.

Considering Alabama has scored 90-plus points in eight games while Kentucky has in nine, it’s easy to think Saturday’s scoreboard might look something like 1979, when the Cats denied the Tide 101-100.

Kentucky forced a historic upset on Alabama basketball’s Final Four run

Oats has two Kentucky wins under his belt since taking the helm, but both came to unranked squads. In 2022, Alabama lost to No. 5 UK in Coleman Coliseum, 66-55, while Oats’ first season in 2020 saw a rank-less Crimson Tide fall 76-67.

Last season in Rupp Arena, then-No. 17 Kentucky upset a 13th ranked Alabama by a margin of 22. The Wildcats’ 117 points scored on UA were the most in series history. The most UK had scored on Alabama previously was 111 points in 1973. Kentucky’s record 127 points while at home came against LSU in 1995.

How did the Wildcats handle Texas A&M?

Not well, but better than Alabama. While UA’s undefeated start to SEC play was being snapped by Ole Miss, Kentucky couldn’t find its flow for the majority of its 81-69 takedown of Texas A&M, who dropped two spots to No. 11 in the country after a 94-88 fight to the finish against the Tide over the weekend.

However, it’s worth noting that A&M was the first of Kentucky’s two-game homestand that’ll end with UA on Saturday morning. Both matchups defined on the glass, UK outrebounded A&M 40-30 as Alabama notched 54 to 46 for the Aggies, who still lead the country with an average 16.7 offensive rebounds after the losses.

Emilee Smarr covers Alabama basketball and Crimson Tide athletics for the Tuscaloosa News. She can be reached via email at esmarr@gannett.com.