Nate Oats expresses disappointment with assistant after approaching Scotty Pippen Jr.

Nate Oats and the No. 6-seeded Alabama Crimson Tide fell in upset fashion to the No. 11-seeded Vanderbilt Commodores in the second round of the SEC Tournament, and as Commodore star Scotty Pippen Jr. revealed postgame, Vanderbilt had a bit of extra motivation — thanks to some choice words from one of Oats’ assistants.

After Vanderbilt drubbed the Georgia Bulldogs with ease on Wednesday night, Pippen said that he was excited for a rematch with Alabama, a team that he labeled “very beatable.” An Alabama assistant coach, according to Pippen, approached the Commodores before tip-off in Tampa on Thursday to address that comment.

“You asked for it so you’re gonna get it,” the Alabama assistant said, according to Pippen.

Asked about it postgame, Oats sure did not seem to approve of his assistant’s comment to Pippen. In fact, he seems adamant on addressing the unnamed assistant.

“I’ll address that (with the coach) afterwards here. I didn’t know anything about that. Probably not something we want our assistants doing is talking to the other team’s players before the game,” Oats said. “Probably not the smartest thing to be doing.”

More on Pippen’s response after Vanderbilt knocks off Oats, Alabama

The comment from the unnamed Alabama assistant coach gave Pippen the extra motivation he needed in an 83-76 upset on Thursday.

“It got to them, it got to us, so we know we had to come out and get the win,” Pippen said.

Pippen finished the game with 26 points despite a 5-19 shooting night, but logged 7 assists to make up for his low-percentage shooting night, and 18 turnovers from the Crimson Tide aided Vanderbilt in their victory. Alabama will now wait to hear their fate come Selection Sunday, while the Commodores look to make a Cinderella run into the semifinals with a win Friday night.

Vanderbilt erased a 10-point deficit in the second half thanks to an early 14-2 run and never looked back. A litany of missed shots, turnovers, fouls, etc. plagued the Crimson Tide and the Commodores sent them packing for Tuscaloosa earlier than expected.

“Coach [Jerry] Stackhouse came into the locker room and said ‘this is it, you know. Either we go home or play tomorrow, so it was fuel to the fire,” Pippen said during his postgame interview.

Indeed they will. The Commodores will take on the Kentucky Wildcats Friday night in the quarterfinals of the SEC Tournament. The game will tip off approximately 25 minutes following the conclusion of Tennessee and Mississippi State, which is slated for a 6 p.m. ET tip.