Alabama basketball’s Nate Oats humbles Crimson Tide despite dominant win over Mississippi State

Some will look at the box score of Wednesday’s 100-75 Alabama basketball win and think it was a satisfying win. And for most, that may be true. But just note for Crimson Tide head coach Nate Oats.

After the 25-point victory, Oats heaped praise on his team’s first-half performance before immediately expressing his displeasure with how the final 20 minutes went.

“First half was the best basketball we’ve played all year, so very encouraging,” Oats said. “[Labaron] Philon’s out, ball was moving, it was crisp. [Aden] Holloway, [Latrell] Wrightsell did a really good job taking care of it. Amari [Allen] was hitting threes. As a team, we shot it well. Then, in the second half, a little disappointed with our leadership. I didn’t think we played as hard, as well. Thought we played the scoreboard too much. Really disappointed with the second half, but super encouraged by our mentality going into the game.”

After the 100-75 win over Mississippi State, Nate Oats said Alabama played the team's best first half of the season but was not pleased with the finish:

"Really disappointed in the second half"

(: University of Alabama) pic.twitter.com/ceV3S7GP0K

— Max Cohan (@MaxCohan) February 26, 2026

Through the first 20 minutes of Wednesday’s game, Alabama led 63-33. As a team, the Tide shot 58.8% on field goals and an astounding 59.3% on 3-pointers (16-for-27), while Mississippi State shot 32.4% and 36.4% on field goals and 3-point shots, respectively. Additionally, Alabama kept the Bulldogs off the line, as MSU attempted just four free throws in the first half.

In the second half, however, the roles did not quite reverse, but Alabama certainly saw its fortunes take a turn for the worse. Most notably, the Tide went very cold while shooting beyond the arc; they made just six of their 23 second-half attempts, contributing to a 37.8% field-goal percentage in the second half. To make matters worse, Alabama was almost incapable of getting back to the line, and shot just four free throws in those 20 minutes.

Alabama, as a result of the sloppy second half, finished the game with more turnovers, fewer second-chance points, and fewer bench points than Mississippi State, which outscored the Tide 42-37 in the second half.

For the night, Allen led all scorers with 23 points, 18 of which came on 3-pointers. Wrightsell similarly made four triples and scored 18 total. Holloway also had 16 points and three 3-pointers.

With the win, 17th-ranked Alabama is 21-7 on the season and 11-4 in SEC play. The Tide have won seven straight games and all but the first in February, a 100-77 defeat in Gainesville against SEC frontrunner Florida.

Alabama has just three games left in the regular season: at Tennessee on Saturday, at Georgia next Tuesday, and at home vs. archrival Auburn next Saturday.

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