Nate Oats frustrated by fouling in first half vs. Auburn

Seven of Alabama‘s 10 players that saw the court against Auburn in the first half committed at least one foul. Head coach Nate Oats wasn’t pleased with his team’s nine total fouls — and 12 points that Auburn earned at the charity stripe — and called out his team’s touchy defense for it before heading into the halftime locker room.

“We started to get our pace a little better there toward the end. We’ve got to quit fouling, they’re living at the free-throw line. It’s hard to keep our pace when they’re getting free throws every time down the floor,” Oats told ESPN’s Holly Rowe at the break. “They’ve got a lot of confidence. They’ve played in big games before, so we’re going to answer the bell.

“But we’ve got to come out in the second half and play defense without fouling so we can get out in transition more in the second half.”

Despite having trouble playing clean of defense, the Tide and Tigers went into the break knotted at 37. Four Alabama players have at least five points at the break, and the scoring is being fairly distributed. Add in the 62.5 percent field goal percentage compared to Auburn’s poor 37 percent. The free throws are the only thing keeping Auburn in the game.

Catch the second half right now live on ESPN.

Jay Bilas: Alabama is good enough to ‘win the whole thing’

Consider Jay Bilas a believer in the Alabama Crimson Tide.

Nate Oats and company have established themselves as one of the top teams in the country over the course of the college basketball season thus far. Still, it’s been tough to separate from the pack, as it’s been as unpredictable of a season as we’ve seen. 

Regardless, Bilas explained prior to Saturday’s ESPN College GameDay, which was live on-hand for the pregame festivities for the Crimson Tide and the Auburn Tigers, that he believes Alabama is as legit as they come.

“They’re legit,” started Bilas. “Alabama’s just every bit as good as Purdue, they just don’t have a 7-foot-4 behemoth like Zach Edey. What they do have is a super athletic team where 52% of their scoring production comes from five-star freshmen, led by Brandon Miller. Brandon Miller is averaging just under 20 points per game. 

“He’s made 75 threes on the season. He shoots 44% from three. That leads the SEC. He’s been incredibly consistent throughout the course of the year. But Alabama’s one of only two teams in the country that rank in the top 15 in both offensive and defensive efficiency, which is a really good sign of a Final Four contender team. Alabama and Houston, the only two teams that are in those categories this season, the top 15. So it’s no question that Alabama is as good as anybody. They’re good enough to win the whole thing.”