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Can Alabama bounce back after tough Auburn loss? Nate Oats thinks so

1918632_10206777287683070_1367905321192383146_nby: Charlie Potter02/18/25Charlie_Potter
Alabama coach Nate Oats
Alabama coach Nate Oats (Jordan Prather / USA TODAY Sports)

TUSCALOOSA, Ala. – The Alabama men’s basketball team is coming off a home loss to No. 1 Auburn. But that was the first game in a brutal 7-game stretch to end the 2024-25 season.

The Crimson Tide can’t let a disappointing loss to its in-state rival carry over to its next matchup, a trip to Columbia, Missouri to take on No. 15 Missouri on Wednesday, Feb. 19.

Alabama head coach Nate Oats wants to see his team show maturity in the wake of defeat.

“Can we bounce back after a tough loss with the proper mindset?” Oats said on Tuesday.

In its previous three losses this season, Alabama (21-4, 10-2 SEC) has managed to win the next time out. After losing at Purdue, it defeated Illinois in Birmingham. After losing to Oregon in Las Vegas, it defeated North Carolina on the road. And then after losing to Ole Miss at home, it defeated Kentucky in Lexington. Can the Tide do the same after this loss?

That’s the question on Oats’ mind, as is a similar situation for last year’s basketball team.

After Saturday’s loss to the Tigers, Oats referenced last year’s loss to Tennessee, which feels similar to Alabama’s most recent defeat. The Volunteers traveled to Tuscaloosa, where College GameDay also set up shop, and earned a victory over the Tide on its home floor.

The very next game, Alabama went on the road to face Florida and suffered a second straight loss. Oats said he wasn’t pleased with the Tide’s leadership a year ago and hopes his players don’t make the same mistake again after losing to No. 1 Auburn this past weekend.

So far, Oats has liked what he saw before Alabama boarded a plane for the Show-Me State.

“Have some of our guys this year grown up and matured since last year?” Oats said. “Can some of the new guys that we’ve got provide better (leadership)? And based on yesterday’s practice and today’s practice, I think the answer is yes.

“I think some of the guys that were on last year’s team kind of wallowed in self-pity, if you will, after the Tennessee loss and then didn’t have us ready to go against Florida looked a lot better yesterday in practice than we had last year. And I think some of the new guys got a good disposition about them to help us in that regard.

“I liked our leadership yesterday in practice. We were a lot shorter today, but I thought today, we picked it up, got done what we needed to. We’ll be ready to go tomorrow.”

The Alabama-Missouri matchup is scheduled to tip off at 8 p.m. CT on the SEC Network.

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