Nate Oats Details How Kent State is 'Certainly Capable of Beating' Alabama

Kent State's scoring defense is among the best country, but the Crimson Tide coach revealed "the big points" that Alabama must achieve if it wants to win.

Alabama basketball coach Nate Oats coaches from the sideline against Oregon at MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas, NV on Saturday, Nov 30, 2024. / Photo by Crimson Tide Photos / UA Athletics

TUSCALOOSA, Ala.— As it's been since head coach Nate Oats was hired back in 2019, Alabama men's basketball's fast-paced and high-scoring offense has stood out among the rest of the nation once again this season.

However, in the Crimson Tide's two losses this season, plus a couple of other close matchups, the speed of Alabama's offense has resulted in a plethora of turnovers. Fortunately, the conversions from long range have been pivotal in the outcomes of some games, but the Tide's next opponent has been stout defensively through 10 games.

Alabama will host Kent State on Sunday at 12 p.m. CT. The Golden Flashes currently lead the Mid-American Conference with an 8-2 record and are also 11th in the country in scoring defense (60.2 points allowed per game). Based on Alabama's recent performances, it will need to clean up the turnovers, as it may not make as many shots from behind the arc as usual due to Kent State's defense.

"They're super aggressive," Alabama head coach Nate Oats said during Friday's press conference. "They turn people over, which is gonna be a problem because we've had an issue with turnovers, particularly in the first half of that last game. They play super physical. They put a lot of pressure on your guards. They blitz ball screens a decent amount, and then they just play super hard, tough, physical and aggressive. We're going to have to handle the physicality of it and we're going to have to be able to not turn the ball over. Those are going to be the big points."

Oats explained that he's known Kent State head coach Rob Senderoff since he was a high school coach and that he has "a lot of history" with him. He also said that the Golden Flashes have pulled off an upset against a high-major team about once every season since Senderoff was hired in 2011. This was part of the reason Alabama scheduled a game against Kent State.

"But they're a good team, and we knew that," Oats said. "We schedule them for a reason. We like to play quality teams as a chance to be decent against what ends up being quad two, quad three games. I think it's got a chance to be a good game for us. It's a game where if we don't play well, they're certainly capable of beating us. They've done it [against other teams] plenty of times since [Senderoff] has been there.

"These guys expect to play well against us and their scoring defense is really good. They hold teams down. We like to score the ball, so this will be a battle. Can we get it going? Can we take care of the ball? Can we get some transition buckets? Hopefully, we get out of transition and not turn the ball over against these guys."

In short, if Alabama limits the turnovers and gets through Kent State's aggressive defense a 10th win is in the Tide's grasp. But if Alabama gives the ball away like it has the past few games, as Oats said, a big upset at home is possible.

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