Nate Oats shares how time off has helped Alabama

Alabama has six days between its regular season finale and SEC Tournament quarterfinal matchup. During that time, head coach Nate Oats revealed that his squad is doing all they can to be the best version of themselves in the hopes of sweeping the SEC Championship hardware this season.

“[The break] was good because we got back to concentrating on ourselves. We’ve played two games a week since Christmas break. It’s really just prepping for the next team, prep for the next team, and now it’s just ‘focus on you,'” Oats said ahead of the tournament. “We got back to cleaning up what we feel we need to be better at … If feel like we’ve gotten ourselves better and now we’re starting to turn.”

Oats said that his players were able to work on individual skill exercises, which Oats has noticed has helped with his team’s overall shooting abilities in a team setting. His team broke a program three-point drill record over the extended break and is hoping to see it carry over into the SEC Tournament.

Any minor ailments plaguing his players have had time to heal themselves just in time for the postseason, which could make this the most dangerous Alabama has been all season long.

The Crimson Tide will meet Mississippi State to open Friday’s SEC Tournament quarterfinal slate. The Bulldogs outlasted Florida 69-68 in overtime during Thursday’s second-round matchup. According to ESPN’s Joe Lunardi, Mississippi State punched their ticket to the big dance with the win. With the Bulldogs wanting to be more than just inside the bubble, Alabama should expect nothing less than the Bulldogs’ best effort.

Alabama swept this year’s regular season series against the Bulldogs. The Crimson Tide easily disposed of MSU in the SEC opener back in December but gave Alabama trouble in January but the Tide hung on 66-63 the following month.

Tip-off between the Crimson Tide and Bulldogs is set for 1 p.m. ET from Bridgestone Arena in Nashville live on ESPN.