Nate Oats critical of Alabama's first-half play vs. Texas A&M in SEC Championship

The Alabama offense looked good early on against Texas A&M in Sunday’s SEC Tournament championship, but the Crimson Tide’s defense is a big reason why Nate Oats’ group took a 34-23 lead into the halftime locker room. It wasn’t all good, though, as Oats told ESPN’s Marty Smith on his way to the locker room.

Of Texas A&M’s 23 points, 10 came from the free throw line thanks to 10 Alabama fouls. The Aggies shot just 6-for-29 from the field in the first half, but they went 10-for-12 from the free throw line. That’s the biggest area Oats wants his team to clean up in the second half so the Crimson Tide doesn’t let the Aggies back into the game.

“Defensively, we were pretty good. We’ve got to stop fouling,” Oats said. “That was an issue the first time we played them. They have 12 free throws. We’ve got to stop fouling. That’s the only we’re scoring. [That’s] 10 out of their 23 points.”

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The Alabama offense looked strong, as well, shooting 40.7% from the field and going 6-for-18 from three-point territory. Those numbers were impressive, but Oats said he still thinks there’s room for improvement in the second half. He called on his team to be more aggressive and attack the basket.

“Offensively, we started out well. We hit some shots. But we’ve been too passive,” Oats said. “We’ve got to attack their press a little bit better. We’ve got to go downhill. The ball’s got to get in the paint and get kicked out. We were just too passive to close the half.”

Jahvon Quinerly led all scorers with 13 points while Brandon Miller had eight points and six rebounds. Charles Bediako also scored six points while pulling down a game-high eight rebounds through the first half of the title game.