Crimson Tide head coach Nate Oats breaks down the Bulldogs roster ahead of the top-15 matchup on the road.
TUSCALOOSA, AL At this stage of the season, it is hard to think of another college basketball league that has performed better than the SEC.
Among the first seven non-conference opponents of No. 4 Alabama, four have been and remain ranked. Eight of the Crimson Tide’s opponents are presently rated, and the team has 11 SEC games left in the regular season.
Alabama’s opponent on Wednesday night, No. 14 Mississippi State, is one of these ranked teams.
“Going into Mississippi State and winning is going to be ridiculously difficult,” Alabama head coach Nate Oats stated at the news conference on Tuesday. “They are among the nation’s most formidable squads. They are among the top rebounding teams in the nation. Every year that coach Chris Jans has been in charge, they have improved offensively. They only had two people in double figures the previous year, but now they have four.”
Josh Hubbard, who leads Mississippi State with 16.3 points per game, was one of the best freshmen in the SEC last season and was also one of the best guards because of his scoring prowess. However, the Bulldogs have six players who average more than 21 minutes per game, and Hubbard’s supporting cast consists of four other players who are averaging at least nine points per game.
“Hubbard is obviously their leading scorer, but he’s got a lot of help,” Oats stated. “Hubbard is a capable guard who is swift and explosive. He’ll get a three off if you lose him for a split second. He has an act where he gets fouled while making three-pointers. He must be guarded on the three-point line so that we don’t foul him. [Guard Claudell] Harris has been good, you know. He is a really good shot. For them, [guard Riley] Kugel comes off the bench. He is extremely gifted; a year or two ago, he was predicted to be selected in the first round, almost like a lottery pick, on certain draft boards.
Hubbard and other of Mississippi State’s top scorers were praised by Oats, but he also praised Bulldogs forward Cameron Matthews, who is kind of a Swiss army knife. Matthews leads Mississippi State in assists (3.8) and offensive rebounds (2.6), despite ranking sixth on the team in points per game (7.8). is third in blocks (0.8), second in total rebounds (4.5), and leads the SEC in steals per game (2.6). Oats also likened Matthews to Mouhamed Dioubate, a forward for Alabama, because both of them are “glue guys that are all about the right stuff.”
“Cam Matthews is one of my favorite players in the SEC over the last few years,” Oats said. “He plays hard, rebounds it well; they’ve got him handling the pick and rolls more this year. He just does a little bit of everything, and he’s a winner. We gave up 15 rebounds in the first half last game to an individual. Cam Matthews has more potential to do that than maybe anybody in this league. So our defense and rebounding efforts on him are going to have to be significantly better than they were last game against LSU.”
Although Matthews is a forward, Oats explained that due to recent defensive performances, especially against Texas A&M’s Zhuric Phelps, Alabama guard Chris Youngblood could see some time being the answer to this tough task of guarding Matthews.
“He’s strong, and Matthews is strong,” Oats said. “He’s a guy we can move around on different guys, and I feel like his competitiveness is his strength. His toughness and his experience give him a chance. And he talks a lot, and that’s a big thing that goes understated a lot of times… Chris’ defensive leverage numbers have been positive and for a lot of different reasons.”
All said and done, Oats stressed on Tuesday that Alabama has looked great in the past couple of practices leading up to the Starkville showdown and is looking forward to the game.
“I like where our heads are at,” Oats said. “I love where our energy was in practice today. I love this team. I think we’ve got really good guys, but I like Mississippi State’s team. They’re tough, their coach does a good job, and we’ve got our hands full on Wednesday night.”
