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What is Nate Oats' panic level after Alabama's loss to Florida?

63571867_t466o7i5ncby:Blake Byler•about 12 hours•

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Mar 5, 2025; Tuscaloosa, Alabama, USA; Alabama Crimson Tide head coach Nate Oats directs his team against the Florida Gators during the first half at Coleman Coliseum. Mandatory Credit: Will McLelland-Imagn Images

TUSCALOOSA, Ala. — Alabama is suffering a late-season slide once again, losing for the fourth time in six games on Wednesday night as No. 5 Florida came into Coleman Coliseum and won 99-94.

After the game, head coach Nate Oats was asked how much he’s panicking about the Tide’s recent string of losses.

“We knew it was gonna be a tough stretch to close. I thought we’d do a little better, but I thought we’d at least play with more effort,” Oats said. “I’m not panicked we’re losing, it’s more concerning how we lost.”

Alabama has been one of the best rebounding teams in the country this season, and Florida dominated on the glass all night long. The Gators finished the game with a 50-35 edge on the glass for the game, including a 16-10 advantage on the offensive glass which led to 19 second-chance points for Florida.

That minus-15 rebounding margin is easily the worst of the season for the Crimson Tide, only the fourth time all season they’ve been outrebounded at all and the first time they’ve been outrebounded by double figures.

In addition to the tangible evidence of the rebounding margin, Oats was disappointed in the other effort plays that don’t have box score statistics.

“You know, getting outrebounded by 15 and not getting the 50/50 balls. I think Florida had more pop and more energy than us, and that’s concerning to me. We’re gonna have to challenge some of these guys, see if there were breakdowns. Some of these rebounds were breakdowns, some of them were guys leaking, not getting in the mix.

“They’re gonna have to determine whether they want to make some tough plays or not. I didn’t think we made too many tough plays tonight.”

The Crimson Tide still has a chance to right the ship before postseason play begins, but it’s going to possibly be its most challenging game of the year, hitting the road to take on No. 1 Auburn at Neville Arena.

“It doesn’t matter what your game plan is, if you don’t get back on defense and you can’t get a rebound. We’re gonna have to figure it out before we go to Auburn,” Oats said. “We’ve gotta go to the No. 1 team in the country, we’ve gotta go to their place. It’s gonna be a tough game for us there. And we’re playing for a lot more than just – we obviously can’t win the regular-season championship. We knew that coming into this game. But we’re playing for SEC Tournament seeding, we’re playing for NCAA Tournament seeding. I thought we’d get a little bit better effort that what we got out of some of these guys tonight.”

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