Alabama falls to Texas A&M with Oats calling defense a ‘disaster’

TUSCALOOSA, Ala. (WSFA) - The No. 25 Crimson Tide battled Texas A&M Wednesday but couldn’t hold off the Aggies in their home finale at at Coleman Coliseum in Tuscaloosa.

The Tide and TAMU when back and forth during the first half, but the Aggies pulled ahead thanks to a second-half run and finished out the game 87-71.

“I thought we needed to give a better effort than we did,” said Alabama coach Nate Oats. “Give Texas A&M a ton of credit. They went through a stretch where they had a lot of losses in the month of February and for them to still be together and playing as hard as they are says a lot about the job their staff is doing with the character of the players, so I give them a ton of credit.”

Bama had three players with double figures during the game, including Jaden Shackelford’s 16 points. Jahvon Quinerly’s 14, and Keon Ellis’s 13. However, the Aggies saw Quenton Jackson put up 28 points with another 22 coming from Tyrece Radford, along with eight rebounds and three steals.

Oats called his defense “a disaster,” noting the Tide gave up 50 points in the second half and had 19 turnovers that resulted in 29 points for TAMU.

“We have got to figure out a better group to start the second half,” Oats said. “We’ve been starting the second half poorly. We came out of the half without enough energy. It’s a disappointing loss. We’ve got to regroup and try to play much better at LSU.”

The Tide’s final game of the regular season is set for Saturday at 11 a.m. at LSU.

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