Alabama is all set to face the Wildcats, and it will be their toughest challenge yet. HC Nate Oats, who is known to have a sense of humor, is looking forward to the prospect of playing them for the “seventh” time, and he got really candid about the scenario with Jon Rothstein of CBS Sports.
” Well I was gonna do because football’s a little different because they get a few weeks off before they got to go play in the playoffs, I was going to see if DeBoar had any of those linemen that played basketball in high school and see maybe if I can borrow a couple of linemen. Shoot, I probably can’t risk a starter, but maybe a backup that was a starting center in high school,” Oats joked.
“So that’s the best answer I got for you because it looks like football on the hardboard. I mean, they got some real athletes. They got some big guys like Koa Peat, he’s just as fast as the guards, he looks like he could be a tight end in the NFL, and he’s good. Krivas is huge, Awaka plays ridiculously hard. I mean, they’re good, and those guys get the ball. I mean, it is a priority to punch those bigs inside, and those bigs go to work,” he continued.
Behind Oats’ joking demeanor, though, lies Arizona’s edge, which has been impossible to miss.
Freshman Koa Peat has quickly become the tone-setter inside, putting up 15.9 points and 5.5 rebounds a night. Most of his damage comes right at the rim, where he plays through contact with ease, but he’s also flashed a soft fadeaway that keeps defenders guessing. Alongside him, Motiejus Krivas has been a steady interior force, averaging 9.8 points and 7.7 boards while finishing a cool 71.1 percent of his shots.
And when the starters sit, Tobe Awaka brings pure muscle and nonstop energy off the bench, posting 9.4 points and 10 rebounds per game. Anthony Dell’Orso has also quietly been one of Arizona’s most reliable sparks, scoring 11.3 points per game and knocking down 41.4 percent of his threes. Even Brayden Burries, who hasn’t shot well from deep at under 35 percent, has still found ways to impact games, averaging 10.6 points and making his presence felt on the defensive end.
All of that has added up to Arizona playing some of the best basketball in the country right now. The Wildcats are a perfect 8–0, and they’ve already beaten four ranked teams, including UCLA, Florida, and UConn. Their most recent performance against Auburn might have been the clearest snapshot yet of how dangerous this group can be. Arizona controlled that game on both ends, never letting Auburn find a rhythm.
The numbers back their dominance as well.
KenPom ranks Arizona ninth in the country in offensive efficiency. The Wildcats own the second-best field-goal percentage nationally and sit inside the top 25 in both three-point shooting and finishing near the rim. Defensively, they’re just as sharp, ranking ninth in KenPom’s defensive efficiency, sitting sixth nationally in defending shots at the rim, and allowing the sixth-lowest opponent field-goal percentage overall.
So, for Nate Oats, it will be a true test of how far he has taken the program since he was hired in 2019. This will be a neutral site matchup, just like the one from the 2023-24 season, when the Crimson Tide gave away the game to Arizona (87-74) in Phoenix.
Also, it’s not like Alabama hasn’t played top-ranked teams. They have already gone 2-2 against four of them. However, this is the top team we are talking about that basically punishes its opponents, and history doesn’t favor Oats either, albeit by a margin. Oats is 3-4 against the Wildcats since 2019.
Oats’ further comments also suggested that he knows his team’s perimeter attack alone won’t save them this time.
” I think our defense has to get short up significantly better. We have got to do a better job with a better job at our defensive rebounding a better job in transition. So those are and Arizona’s great at that. So we got a great opportunity in front of us Saturday to get better at the two biggest areas of improvement we need to make. We got to do a better job of turning people over,” Oats added.
