Alabama recently broke a two-game losing skid with a win over Mississippi State, but nearly were upset again by Oklahoma on Saturday. The Crimson Tide took an 83-81 comeback victory, leading to Nate Oats talking about the need for self-reflection. Meanwhile, star sophomore guard Labaron Philon spoke about the halftime speech Oats gave that inspired the turnaround.
“I can't tell you the full story because that wouldn't be appropriate for the camera. He got on us. He came in, threw his suit off, he was red hot. … All these older guys told us we were gonna come back and win the game,” Philon said post-game about the halftime speech from Oats accoring to Blake Byler of On3Sports.
It was a tight game for much of the first half, with the game tied at 28 with 7:41 left to go in the half. Still, Oklahoma went on a 16-5 run to end the half and held a 44-33 lead going into the break. Still, Alabama made the quick comeback coming out of the halftime break, playing clearly inspired. The Tide went on a 12-0 run in the first two and a half minutes of the second half to take the lead. While the game remained tight, Alabama held on to take the two-point victory.
In the process of the comeback, Philon scored 23 points while adding five rebounds and four assists in the victory. He did not score any of his 23 points during the 16-5 Oklahoma run in the first half. Coach Oats took a lot of the blame for the early struggles.
“I got to do a better job as a coach of getting these guys motivated to give us better effort for 40 minutes. … But we did enough to get a win.” Oats told the media, according to Charlie Potter of On3Sports.
Alabama is now 13-5 on the campaign. They do not return to the court until next Saturday, when they host Tennessee.
