Newark, N.J. • Nate Oats has built an offensive buzzsaw in Tuscaloosa over the last six years. So maybe more than anyone, he can recognize what Kevin Young has done in Provo.
“I think since maybe Feb. 12 — we looked up — they’ve got the No. 1 offense in the country,” Oats said. “And they play in a good league in the Big 12 with some really good defensive teams.”
It’s true, BYU is averaging over 86 points a game recently. It scored 91 points against Wisconsin.
Still, BYU will have its hands full against a deep and athletic Alabama group that’s been to three straight Sweet 16s
Does it have the firepower to match?
Young, with his 11-man rotation, thinks he does. And he knows the player who will ignite the effort.
“We feel like we’ve always got somebody out there athletically that can compete with some of the dynamic guards you’ve got to face. That’s helped,” Young said.
Mark Sears is Alabama’s best player, a 6-1 guard who is scoring nearly 19 points per game.
“We feel like Mawot [Mag] came in and gave us somebody who we can put on the other team’s best perimeter player oftentimes,” Young continued. “And then Trey Stewart has been able to come in and spell him at times to do that.”
BYU star Richie Saunders sees similarities in Alabama to other Big 12 rosters. In terms of Alabama’s pace, he doesn’t think it will be an issue.
“We just know they play really fast, which the Big 12 plays really fast and physical,” Saunders said. “It’s no different. But we’re excited.”
BYU had an extra day of rest playing last Saturday. Alabama beat Saint Mary’s on Sunday for a quick turnaround.
“We have another day of preparation, so that helps us even more,” Saunders said. “We know what we need to do. It’s just a matter of executing.”
Alabama has two key injuries with big men Grant Nelson and Cliff Omoruyi. Both are expected to play, but could be less than 100%.
“We’ve got everyone about as close to 100 as you’re going to be able to get at this point of the year. And Grant is probably the furthest from that,” Oats said. “But he made the point to me, he hasn’t been better than 90 for the last month. I think we’ll have our full roster available for us to play this game.”
BYU isn’t entirely new to the Tide. Oats visited Young multiple times when Young was an assistant on the Phoenix Suns. He compared BYU to Kentucky’s offense in the SEC.
It is somewhat ironic since Wildcats coach Mark Pope was at BYU last year and coached Saunders.
“BYU is really good. Kentucky is similar but different than BYU. I think we were able to play Kentucky three times,” Oats said. “They’re similar in they both are five out [offense], but I think BYU plays a little faster. They’ve got different personnel, obviously.”
His main fear is slowing down BYU, particularly Saunders. Alabama’s Achilles’ heel the last few seasons is its defense. It was outside the top 100 last year in defense (still going to the Final Four). It is slightly better now.
“I think this year our defense is significantly better. It’s still not where we’d like it to be. It’s going to have to get significantly better to make another Final Four run,” Oats said.
He pointed to Saunders as the main issue that needs to be addressed. He is averaging 20.5 points per game in the NCAA Tournament and had 25 against Wisconsin.
“Richie Saunders has been playing really good basketball for the last month, month and a half. I think double figures in 11 straight games and shooting over 50% from the field, 43 from three,” Oats said. “Doesn’t miss much at the free-throw line. He’s obviously really good. He’s having a great tournament. We’re going to have to do a great job on him.”
Oats will start freshman Labaron Philon on Saunders to start the game.
Will it be the first 100 points that wins this game?
“I would be shocked,” guard Trevin Knell said.
Sears would be, too.
“We’ve just got to limit their threes as much as possible. We can’t give them simple threes,” he said. “We’ve got to try to limit rotations as much as possible. Because when they’re breaking down a defense, that’s giving easy threes to their shooters. And we’ve just got to do a great job of that.”
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