Dennis Gates addresses what caused chippy game vs. Alabama

The game between Missouri and Alabama on Tuesday night got chippy and physical. After the game, Tigers head coach Dennis Gates addressed what caused the game to get like that.

Gates explained that it was a matter of both teams playing hard throughout the game and the flow of it becoming physical.

“Both teams were playing hard,” Dennis Gates said. “Ultimately, our guys played hard, they played hard, and that’s what the flow of the game presented. You know, ultimately, in those situations, you would want the ball to bounce in your favor, get more baskets or more free throws but that wasn’t the case.”

Alabama ended up winning the game 93-75. In the game, Missouri shot 20 free throws, but Dennis Gates also seemed to think that the distribution of the free throws was interesting.

“We came away with zero free throws in the first half. You said it was a chippy game, right? You said that, right? Correct? But we shot zero free throws in the first half. So, I don’t know.”

One of the most notable moments of chippy play came in the first half when players got tied up and had something to say to one another. That led to Alabama head coach Nate Oats standing up and putting his hands on the Missouri player.

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The contact wasn’t necessarily malicious, and nothing came from a review of the play. Still, it was a move that led to criticism of Nate Oats and after the game, he apologized to Dennis Gates for the moment.

“Nate apologized. I’ve known Nate since he was a high school coach in Detroit,” Gates said.

“I just pose the question — if that was players in the huddle, put a hand on an opponent, what would take place? It would be an automatic technical foul, right? I thought I saw two referees in the huddle. It wasn’t a technical foul? But that’s the question I would pose. If it was players, making hand contact, what would take place?”

Alabama coach Nate Oats on why the game got chippy

After the game, Nate Oats shared his thoughts on why the game got chippy.

“It’s a program with a lot of pride. I mean, they were good last year. They came in 0-3, they’re probably better than 0-3. They’re fighting, scrapping and clawing … I’m sure there was an edge about them or that they needed a win but we’re trying to win and you can’t win the league if you don’t protect your own court, either,” Oats said.

“Combination of us understanding we gotta protect our own court. It’s a must win game for us if we’re going to try to win this league and they have a lot of pride over there and they’re weren’t trying to start 0-4. Other than that, there’s nothing there’s nothing between the programs like I actually really respect Dennis and think he does a great job and I don’t think any of our players have any past history … I just think it’s two teams playing hard.”