Nate Oats dunks on South Carolina in press conference after Alabama basketball win
Things got testy during Alabama basketball's 74-47 home win over South Carolina Tuesday night.
And Crimson Tide coach Nate Oats most definitely got the last word. For now, anyway.
Both Oats and South Carolina coach Lamont Paris were asked about a double-technical foul called on Alabama's Max Scharnowski, who was on the UA bench at the time, and South Carolina's Meechie Johnson. Paris, who spoke to the media first, said the Johnson "is not an instigator," and that the problem was triggered by what was said from the Alabama bench.
Oats, who spoke to reporters after Paris, saw things much differently, and punctuated his team's blowout with with a press conference dunk of sorts.
"They said our guys were talking. There was a lot of talking. … Their guys were yelling at our bench for whatever reason, I don't know. Then they made the statement the SEC isn't ready for them. I guess we'll see if the SEC is ready for them," Oats said. "But this SEC team was ready for them."
The reference might have been to a comment that South Carolina guard Myles Stute made following a USC win over Florida A&M. Asked if the Gamecocks were ready for the SEC schedule, Stute said "I hope they're ready for us. That's my answer. I hope they're ready for us."
Alabama (10-5, 2-0 SEC) turned in its best defensive performance of the season and was led by 31 points from guard Mark Sears. Tempers flared a bit during the contest, particularly when Alabama began to pull away in the second half.
"They were talking an awful lot during the game. I don't condone us talking to the other team off the bench, but I heard what their guys were saying right out of the gate," Oats added.
Tuscaloosa News columnist Chase Goodbread is also the weekly co-host of Crimson Cover TV on WVUA-23 and the Talkin' Tide podcast. Reach him at cgoodbread@gannett.com. Follow on Twitter @chasegoodbread.
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This article originally appeared on The Tuscaloosa News: Nate Oats dunks on South Carolina in press conference after Alabama win
