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Charles Barkley: 'Nate Oats and his kids made Alabama proud'

Chandler Vesselsby:Chandler Vessels•04/06/24•

ChandlerVessels

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Mark J. Rebilas-USA TODAY Sports

As much as it pained him to do so, Charles Barkley had to give a hats off to Nate Oats and Alabama following Saturday’s game. The Crimson Tide gave all they had against defending national champion UConn before running out of gas in a 86-72 Final Four loss.

Alabama found itself tied with the Huskies with as little as 12 minutes remaining in the game before UConn went on an 11-2 run to pull ahead for good. As a former Auburn player, Barkley isn’t one to compliment the Crimson Tide often, but he had to acknowledge their effort on the TBS postgame show.

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“I want to say this. Obviously, I have great hatred toward Alabama, but let me tell you something. Those kids — Nate Oats and his kids, man, they made — I’m gonna say it right, Ernie — they made the University of Alabama proud,” Barkley said. “It was awesome, they had a great season. Obviously, we’re gonna celebrate UConn, but as an Auburn guy, this is painful. I’ve got to take my hat off to Nate Oats and his entire coaching staff and his team. They were awesome.”

Alabama came out of the gate ready to play and stayed neck-and-neck with the Huskies as the two teams traded leads throughout the first half. The Crimson Tide trailed just 44-40 at halftime but would bring a similar energy to begin the second and eventually come back to tie things up.

Mark Sears did all he could to keep Alabama alive in the game to finish with a team-high 24 points on the evening. When UConn extended its lead to double digits, it was Sears who cut it back down to eight points by hitting a 3-pointer with 2:54 remaining. Unfortunately, the Huskies were too much to overcome late.

Still, the Crimson Tide have plenty to be proud of this season after reaching the Final Four for the first time in program history. Charles Barkley didn’t just compliment Alabama after the game, but also made a point to seek out Sears and offer him some words of encouragement afterward.

Although they ultimately fell short of the goal, Alabama fought until the end, and that’s something you have to respect even if you’re a fan of their biggest rival.