Nate Oats’ Alabama Crimson Tide did not catch the bug that has many SEC teams bouncing early from the NCAA Tournament. 4-seed UA is moving on to the Round of 32 after a 109-96 win over 13-seed College of Charleston.

It was a 51-34 game at the half. The scoring for both teams ramped up in the 2nd half.

“We’ve had this issue with this team all year,” Oats said after the game. “I think they play the scoreboard too much. We built a 31-point lead and I would have to go look and see what the last seven, eight minutes of that game. We just got up 31 and we quit guarding, which is a little frustrating, but it’s not the time of the year to really kind of jump these guys right after you just scored 109 points in an NCAA tournament game.”

Oats knows that it’s a big deal to make it to the Round of 32, especially when conference peers Auburn, Florida, Kentucky, Mississippi State and South Carolina were all sent packing by lower-seeded teams. Still, he can’t help but worry about Alabama’s defense.

“So we’re playing on Sunday,” Oats continued. “There’s only going to be 32 teams left playing after tonight and we’ll be one of ’em. It’s a big accomplishment. We’re trying to be one of 16 playing left after Sunday, so I’m trying to keep the energy positive.

“But, yeah, we have had a tendency to play the scoreboard a little too often. So I think we played the scoreboard a little bit there in the second half because I thought when we were — when the offense wasn’t going well in the first half, we made — I thought we did show a lot of maturity because at times we’ve — offense is going great, relax. If the offense is bad, we feel sorry for ourselves and don’t play D. Like, offense wasn’t going very well, we’re down 19-13, I think, and we just locked in and got stops and were able to make a 10-0 run and another 12-0 run.

“So I think we showed a lot of maturity in that way to really guard in the first half, open up the big lead in the second half, and then, yeah, it would be nice if we didn’t take our foot off the gas when we got up 31, but we’re playing on Sunday.”

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Will Alabama’s defensive issues catch up to Tide?

Oats was critical of Alabama’s defense after the previous outing, a 102-88 loss to Florida in its first and only game of the 2024 SEC Tournament.

In that postgame press conference, Oats called out his team’s defensive effort. He made the same point about unsuccessful offensive possessions turning into poor defensive efforts. Last week, Oats openly questioned whether the team could regroup to put together a full 40-minute effort on defense. He asked his players to be motivated to play for each other when a loss can end the team’s season.

For Oats, there has to be some disappointment that his strong words did not serve as the defensive wake-up call he sought. It’s starting to feel like Alabama will need to turn every NCAA Tournament game into an offensive shootout.

The Alabama-Grand Canyon matchup in the Round of 32 offers some contrasting styles. While UA’s offensive and defensive efficiencies are polar opposites on KenPom (No. 3 offense, No. 117 defense), Grand Canyon is more balanced (No. 58 offense, No. 41 defense).

Alabama is in the Round of 32 after winning a 2nd-half track meet in which defense was optional. Unlike Charleston, Grand Canyon will play defense. If Oats gets his wish, the Tide will play some defense, too, to keep dancing.