The Timeout That Sparked No. 20 Alabama Basketball to a Dominant Win over Liberty

Nate Oats lit a fire under his team with a first-half timeout, and the Crimson Tide responded with an 11-0 run that carried through the rest of the game

TUSCALOOSA, Ala. — Nate Oats didn't like what he was seeing on the defensive end. 

Alabama had just left another Liberty shooter wide open under the basket for an easy layup to reclaim the lead with around 14 minutes to go in the first half, so the Crimson Tide head coach decided to call his use-it or lose-it first-half timeout. 

"We had a few defensive screwups, so I thought I’d use it to get them straight there," Oats said. 

His team responded with an 11-point run and never looked back in the 95-59 win over Liberty inside Coleman Coliseum Friday night. 

"It was a great response," Oats said after the game. "Guys came out and locked into the defensive end. We keep preaching defense, effort, blue-collar play and shots will drop. We’re too talented on offense. As long as we play unselfish, the offense will take care of itself. I thought for the most part, we did that tonight.”

During the run, star freshman Brandon Miller was either directly or partially responsible for seven of the 11 points, including one of his four three-pointers on the way to a 20-point performance. 

Oats' message during the timeout was simple according to the night's leading-scorer Mark Sears.

"Basically we’ve got to play harder," Sears said. "He put some fire into us, and it set the tone throughout the game."

Sears finished with 22 points, eight rebounds and four assists for the Crimson Tide. 

Early on, it was a back-and-forth affair between No. 20 Alabama and Liberty, a team Oats spoke really highly of leading up to the game. But once the Crimson Tide built a lead, it maintained full control.

From the timeout on, Alabama outscored the Flames 82-45 over the course of the rest of the game, including a defensive clinic in the second half. After the break, Alabama only allowed 28 points against one of the highest-scoring offenses in the country. 

"Plenty of stuff to clean up when we get back to the video, but we haven’t had an issue with the effort in the first two games," Oats said. "That’s what we want all year. If we lose at some point this year because we just can’t make a shot and got quality shots and our effort was there, we can live with that. We’re not gonna live with losing because we got out-efforted.” 

Next up for the Crimson Tide is Alabama's first road test at South Alabama Tuesday at 9 p.m.

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