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Nate Oats and the Alabama Crimson Tide won their 5th game of the year by at least 30 points on Saturday. The Tide have 4 losses so far this season, and in the games immediately after the last 3, they’ve won by 20, 57, and 49 points.
Alabama walked out of Thompson-Boling Arena this past Wednesday disappointed. It didn’t let the sting of a 9-point loss to Tennessee linger at all, though.
The Tide went out on Saturday and dismantled Georgia, 108-59. They opened the game with a 30-9 lead less than 7 minutes in. Brandon Miller scored 21 points without breaking a sweat. Nick Pringle had 19 points and 12 rebounds. Mark Sears made 5 triples in the first half.
“It was another game after a loss where I feel like our guys came ready to play,” Oats told reporters after. “Hopefully we don’t have too many more of those.”
In every way, Alabama dominated.
It shot 62% and held Georgia to 38%. It made 16 triples — 3 more than Georgia attempted. It blocked 6 shots and won the rebounding battle by 23 — the largest margin in an SEC game during Oats’ tenure in Tuscaloosa.
“We’ve got a group that owns what they need to get better at,” Oats said.
The Tide (23-4, 14-1 SEC) were revealed Saturday as the NCAA Tournament selection committee’s No. 1 overall team. If the tourney were to start now, Alabama would be the top seed in the field. If it can keep things rolling, the Tide will grab a No. 1 seed for real, making for a potentially special tournament run.
“If we take care of business here over the next three weeks, hopefully we’re playing in Birmingham in the NCAA Tournament, and we can get as big of a pro-Alabama as we can possibly get up there,” said Oats.
Derek Peterson does a bit of everything, not unlike Taysom Hill. He has covered Oklahoma, Nebraska, the Pac-12, and now delivers CFB-wide content.
