Nate Oats ‘Disgusted’ With the Defense’s Performance in the Second Half of Tuesday’s Win
Following Alabama's overwhelming 103-87 victory over the Vanderbilt Commodores on Tuesday, head coach Nate Oats gave his opinions on his team's performance, with the fifth-year coach both applauding and criticizing his team.

Oats began by discussing how well his team played defense in the first half, with the Tide only allowing 31 first-half points. However, despite the strong performance, Alabama's head coach was disappointed with his defense's performance in the second half, when the Tide gave up 56 second-half points, with Oats saying, "It completely fell apart in the second half, which is a little bit disappointing for a team that's trying to go after a championship."
Alabama's head coach went on to applaud Crimson Tide forward Mo Dioubate, saying, "I think Mo plays hard all the time as evidenced by the fact that he's led the team in plus-minus the last two games." Dioubate earned a double double in Tuesday's game over Vanderbilt, scoring 22 points and grabbing 10 rebounds. Oats mentioned that Dioubate is only the fifth player to put up 20 points and 10 rebounds in a game since arriving in Tuscaloosa.
When asked how he would assess the team's performance in Tuesday's game, Oats said, "A minus in the first half and then they failed the second half." Oats said, "I was disgusted with the second half defense to be honest with you." The Crimson Tide allowed the Commodores to cut the Tide's 20-point lead to eight with two minutes remaining in the game.
When asked about the improvements sophomore guard Aden Holloway has made since coming to Tuscaloosa, who the tide picked up in the transfer portal from Auburn this past off-season, Oats went on to remark, "I do think he needed to get his confidence up. You need to get comfortable in our system." The sophomore guard seemed at ease tonight against Vanderbilt, scoring 22 points on 8-11 shooting from the field.
Oats went on to discuss his team's success in limiting points of turnovers. Despite the tide having 11 turnovers, they only allowed 8 points off of those, whereas Alabama scored 17 off of Vanderbilt's 10 turnovers.
Alabama will move to 16-3 on the season and 5-1 in conference play, with the Crimson Tide seeking to continue this trend when they face the LSU Tigers this Saturday, January 25th, 2025 at Coleman Coliseum.
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Alabama's Bench Leads Tide to Important Win Over Vanderbilt
Gallery Credit: Wyatt Fulton
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