Oats on LSU: ‘They Play Well at Home’

Nate Oats and his Alabama basketball take their No. 16 ranking to Red Stick for an early Saturday tip.

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Oats spoke Friday afternoon on the rematch with the Tigers.

Opening Statement

"We've got a big game. We didn't take care of business at Auburn.

"This game on the road has become big. LSU is a markedly improved team. They're shooting the ball well. They're 3-1 in the SEC at home.

"We've had a good couple of days at practice.

"Our defense at Auburn was dreadful. Hopefully our guys will play with their backs against the wall."

On motivating the team to play harder

"You either want to win or you don't. When we don't play hard, we don't give ourselves a chance to win.

"When you play defense like we did against Mississippi State at home, you see the results. We'll see here this last month where our guys are at.Part of it's effort. Part of it's following he scouting report.

"We need to take away a guy's tendencies, like with Johni Broome's right hand.

"Sometimes we need to get a stop no matter what."

On Mo Wague's dwindling minutes

"We look at lineup analysis. He fouls too much and turns the ball over too much for a big.

"He plays hard. There's never a question about whether he's going to play hard. Three fouls in two minutes, you have to stop fouling."

On senior leaders

"They're getting a little bit more vocal as we're getting near the end. After the game at Auburn we had some guys speak up."

On playing a team a second time

"You look heavily at your game to see what you need to make improvements on. With LSU we played well the second half.

"They play well at home. Mike Williams has been scorching hot from three.

"Who makes the biggest jump from game one to game two?"