Alabama head coach Nate Oats expressed disappointment after his team's 99-81 loss to Auburn, acknowledging that Auburn outplayed them and was more prepared. Oats emphasized the need for his team to play harder and recognized the significance of the game, noting that Auburn played like it was for first place. He also highlighted Auburn's strong performance in rebounding and effort stats, indicating that his team needs to improve in these areas. Oats emphasized the urgency of the situation, recognizing that despite being in a good spot halfway through conference play, the team could quickly regress if they don't perform well in the remaining games.
Here is everything Nate Oats said after No. 16 Alabama's 99-81 loss at No. 12 Auburn on Wednesday. "We've got to play harder. They were definitely the better team, more prepared and they were ready to go tonight." 🔗: https://t.co/64uxNGDGbZ https://t.co/la9vWpQBD9
Alabama HC Nate Oats: "(Auburn was) down 14 at the half at our place, and they came back... We were down 14 and didn't do much damage."
Nate Oats: "Auburn was ready to go. We weren't. It was for first place, and they came out and played like it was for first place."
Alabama HC Nate Oats: "Auburn was ready to go and we weren't. It was for first place, and they played like it was for first place... Auburn was ready to play. We weren't."
Nate Oats: "We got some work to do in these last 8 games. [Auburn] was better than us. They played harder. They out-rebounded us. ... They took advantage of our smaller lineup inside. ... A lot of the effort stats you look at, they were better than us. ... We got to play harder."
Nate Oats: “Auburn was ready to go and we weren’t. It was for first place, and they played like it was for first place.”
Nate Oats: "Got a big game coming up (at Auburn). We've put ourselves in a good spot halfway through conference play, but it can all go backwards in a hurry if we don't come out and play well."