Alabama basketball expecting another tough road game at Georgia

TUSCALOOSA, Ala. – The last time the Alabama men’s basketball team took on Georgia, the Crimson Tide rolled to a 108-59 win. But that game was played inside Coleman Coliseum.

That’s why Alabama head coach Nate Oats isn’t overlooking Wednesday’s game in Athens.

“We’ve got a tough road game,” Oats said. “We have not played particularly well at Georgia since I’ve been here. I’m not sure what it is, but I think the worst KenPom loss in school history was two years ago at Georga when they went 1-17 and we gave them their only win. 

“We’ve got to come with a little bit better focus.”

Georgia (14-6, 4-3 SEC) is two wins shy of matching its overall and league win totals from last year – with 11 games left. Coach Mike White is in his second season with the Bulldogs and has them trending up. UGA has played well at home, posting an 11-1 record at Stegeman Coliseum this year. The team’s 10-game winning streak at home is its seventh-longest ever. 

“Georgia has improved,” Oats said. “They’re a lot better than they’ve been since I’ve been here. Their only home loss, I believe, was to Tennessee and they should have won that one. So they’ve been playing great, particularly at home. You see they’ve been pretty good crowds. So our guys are going to have to get themselves locked in.”

Alabama (14-6, 6-1) enters this matchup with a 99-53 lead in the all-time series, but the record is much closer in games played in Athens. UA holds a 34-31 edge there (compared to 58-18 at home). The Tide is 4-1 in Oats’ tenure as the head coach, including a 2-1 mark away from Tuscaloosa. The average margin of victory in the three games has been 6.3 points.

The last time Alabama traveled to play on Georgia’s home court, the Bulldogs upset the Tide, 82-76. It marked UGA’s only conference win that season and only its sixth of the year, with all six of them occurring at Stegeman. But Oats hasn’t used that as motivation – yet.

“I think I addressed it once,” Oats said. “Just like what can happen if you’re not ready to play because we’ve played some teams that our guys maybe, they’re paying attention to social media, standings and stuff and weren’t necessarily having the respect they need to have. I used it at that point. 

“I haven’t used it here for this Georgia game because this year’s Georgia team is nothing like, they’re not going 1-17. But we have played teams that don’t have a win, that aren’t as good in the league and you’ve got to take them seriously or you could end up getting popped like we did two years ago.”

Alabama currently holds a half-game lead over Tennessee for the top spot in the SEC. To maintain its edge, the Tide needs to win a tough road game (5:30 p.m. CT on SEC Network).

“We’ve got to go into games like this and win them if we want a chance to win the league,” Oats said. “Our guys have had two pretty good practices. I think we’re in a decent spot, but we need to bring it tomorrow.”

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