Alabama loss at Kentucky erases questions about defense, Oats says

The Alabama men’s basketball team has had questions about its defense all season long. But after the No. 13 Crimson Tide was thumped by the 17th-ranked Kentucky Wildcats, 117-95, in Lexington on Saturday afternoon, that’s no longer the case, head coach Nate Oats said.

“I told our guys after the game, we’ve had question marks all year. Those question marks are completely erased,” Oats said after the 22-point road loss. “Everybody knows that we don’t really guard at this point because I thought our effort stunk.”

Kentucky’s 117 points were tied for the third-most surrendered by an Alabama team in program history and the most points the Wildcats have ever scored on the Tide (111 in 1973). UK scored 58 points in the first half as it took a 16-point lead to the locker room at Rupp Arena at halftime and kept its foot on the gas in the final 20 minutes, adding another 59.

The Wildcats shot 63 percent from the field (41-65) and 54 percent from three (13-24), and five of their players scored in double figures. All five shot 50 percent or better from the floor, with Justin Edwards going 10-for-10 from the field and 4-for-4 from three with 28 points.

Oats noted that UK coach John Calipari has done “a really good job” fixing the Cats issues in the past with shooting, and it showed Saturday. Alabama, on the other hand, is still trying to improve on the defensive end. The Tide leads the nation in adjusted offensive efficiency at 127.4 points scored per 100 possessions, per KenPom, but is now 97th in defense (102.3).

“Look, if the defense isn’t fixable, we’re not gonna be able to win any big games,” Oats said. “I don’t know that it’s fixable to the point where we can be like we were last year where we were third in the country. That’s past the point of doing that. 

“But maybe we can hold somebody to a 1.1, 1.2 instead of a 1.46, and hopefully, our offense is a 1.2 or 1.3, which that puts a lot of pressure on your offense every night out. … We were a 1.17. If we could get our defense down to a 1.1, we probably would have a chance. I think there’s part of it (that is) fixable. Some of it, I don’t know.”

Alabama’s offense scored enough points to win on the road, but its 16 turnovers were not ideal, as they led to 29 points for Kentucky. Oats said his staff charted 16 points allowed in transition, leading to 45 points before the Tide could even get in its halfcourt defense.

But even then, Alabama wasn’t great. 

The loss, while erasing the question marks, wasn’t a back-breaker for the Tide, though. UA only dropped one spot in the NET rankings, from No. 5 to No. 6, and kept its spot as the top 3-seed in Joe Lunardi’s bracket projections on ESPN. Alabama will look to bounce back when it travels to Oxford, Miss., to take on Ole Miss on Wednesday, Feb. 28 (8 p.m. on ESPN2).

“The only positive thing was we played well on offense through the course of the year to be tied for first place after that horrendous effort,” Oats said. “We’ve got four games left, and we’ve got to try to figure out how to get these guys a little more motivated to play harder on defense.”

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