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Nate Oats praises Noah Gurley, Brandon Miller for playing well through adversity vs. Texas A&M

ns_headshot_2024-clearby:Nick Schultz•03/12/23•

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Alabama star Brandon Miller at the SEC Tournament
Photo by Andy Lyons/Getty Images

At halftime of Sunday’s SEC Tournament championship, Nate Oats called out his Alabama team for getting into foul trouble. Who could blame him since star forward Brandon Miller had three fouls at the break?

He got his wish — and made sure to credit Miller and others for fighting through that adversity to win the title.

Miller didn’t commit a foul in the second half and finished the game with 23 points to help lead Alabama past Texas A&M 82-63 to bring home the trophy. He wasn’t the only one to earn praise from his head coach, though. Oats also shouted out Noah Gurley, who played 20 minutes for the second straight game and had two key blocks on defense.

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“Noah Gurley, super proud of him,” Oats said on the Crimson Tide Radio Network postgame show. “He stepped up, played well for us in this tournament after not playing some. The matchups aligned better to play him, and he played well. He gave us good minutes when Clowney was out. Brandon ends up only having three fouls.

“Sometimes, you need to roll with your guys, even in foul trouble. We tried to get out of the half, but then, when he got two, he got the third, so we had to sit him at that point. But he does a good job playing with fouls. I wish he’d do a better job not getting in foul trouble to start with. But looking forward to the Selection Show.”

Now, Oats and the rest of the college basketball world will be glued to CBS for the Selection Show. The Crimson Tide were a lock for the tournament before the game, but now secured an automatic bid. Now, it’s a waiting game to see who Alabama plays to start the tournament.

One thing’s a given, though. The players will have a day off on Monday.

“I think we’re in,” Oats joked with play-by-play announcer Chris Stewart. “We’re not on the bubble. That’s nice, to be not on the bubble. We’ll see who our matchups are. We’re going to give them tomorrow off, make sure their bodies get rested and we’ll get ready to play.”