As he typically does, Nate Oats fouled with his team up by 3.

I want to be very clear before we dive into the last 15 ish seconds of Alabama-Oklahoma that I am not anti-fouling up 3. I think it is a very smart thing to do, especially if that’s your established and practice end of game philosophy. HOWEVER, I believe there is a smart way to do it and plenty of not smart ways to do it. Let’s keep this in mind…

Alabama’s Houston Mallette made 1 of 2 free throws with 13 seconds left to put Bama ahead by 3. On the ensuing possession, Labaron Philon fouls Xzayvier Brown as soon as he hits halfcourt. When this foul is given, there are 10 seconds left in the game. At this point in the ballgame, Alabama is 12-22 from the free throw line for the game. That’s 55%. FIFTY-FIVE PERCENT. Naturally, according to the plan, Brown hits the free throws for Oklahoma. Aden Holloway is fouled on the inbounds. He hits the free throws as well, and we are back to where the cycle began with only 3 total seconds running off the clock. THIS is why I don’t like fouling up by 3 with 10 seconds left and would rather wait if I were to give a foul. Nate Oats was so terrified of giving up one look at a 3 that he would rather force his team, that is shooting 55% from the free throw line in this game, to execute a press inbounds and hit 2 free throws as many times at it would take to run 10 seconds off the game clock.

Let’s pick the end of game situation back up. After the Holloway free throws Bama goes back to the foul around halfcourt strategy. This time, Labaron Philon fouls Brown with 7 seconds left (more reasonable game clock to do this but still a couple seconds early in my opinion) but Brown knows the foul is coming and is able to get further up the court and into his shooting motion. Why does Brown know the foul is coming? Because Oats had his team start this process too early, thus giving Oklahoma multiple possessions where the foul was coming. Ideally, in my opinion, you’d only give the foul on ONE possession with around 5 seconds left. It was a great play by Brown to see the foul coming and get into the shooting motion. Unfortunately for him, he only hit 2/3 free throws and Oklahoma had to foul Bama again.

Here is where the Alabama free throw struggles come into play. Amari Allen hits 1/2 and now what was a 3 point Bama lead with 10 seconds left has turned into a 2 point lead with 6 seconds left. By starting the fouling process too early, letting Oklahoma see that it was coming in a future possession, and putting a team that was struggling from the foul line in that game in a position where they would have to hit as many free throws as possible down the stretch, Nate Oats turned a possession where a 3 would tie the game into a possession where a 3 would lose it. This shot for a great shooter in Nijel Pack (very well defended, great execution there) would’ve won the game.

The ensuing tip by (former Alabama player) Mo Wague would’ve tied the game, the very thing Nate Oats was so afraid of to begin with. Again, fouling up 3 as a strategy is not a bad one, but Nate Oats just about mathed himself out of a conference road win with the timing of his process.

This weekend’s things…

1. Chris Holtmann

DePaul could not be more back. They put a second half thumping on Marquette to flip an 8 point halftime deficit into a 5 point win. A 14-0 run out of the halftime locker room will do the trick in that regard every time. The Blue Demons were rocking some awesome throwback unis, Wintrust was as loud as I’ve ever seen it, and Chris Holtmann hit the bars after the game to buy drinks for the crowd. A true pro move by Holtmann to kickoff a holiday weekend by treating the students right. He was doing the college version of shaking hands and kissing babies: shaking hands and passing out beer buckets. Asking someone to grab his credit card at the end of this clip was incredible.

DePaul Basketball @DePaulHoops A man of the people: @ChrisHoltmann 6:52 AM • Jan 17, 2026 74 Retweets 943 Likes Read 12 replies

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As I’ve hinted at before, there’s a real path for DePaul to make some noise in this mess of a Big East. They’re on their way.

2. Kentucky

Mark Pope is living on the edge, but this week he’s living right. His Wildcats now have back to back SEC road wins where they trailed by 17+ in the game. Denzel Aberdeen poured in 18 second half points and Collin Chandler made a key steal to help give Kentucky their first lead with 34 seconds left.
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There was also a little postgame dustup between Jaylen Carey and Otega Oweh following Carey, offensive rebound and chance to tie at the buzzer. The way the camera cuts to Mark Pope sprinting into the fray is great work.

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3. Miami (OH)

They did it again. Eian Elmer dropped in a 3 at the buzzer to send Miami to overtime against Buffalo, and Peter hit a 3 with 1 second left in overtime to win it.

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This moves the Redhawks to 19-0. It’s mid January and a MAC team is still undefeated. Yes, they played a garbage non-conference schedule. Yes, they are getting away with it some (including Saturday), but 19-0 is 19-0. Monday’s rankings are out and the Redhawks are checking in at #25. I don’t think anyone actually believes that Miami is one of the 25 best teams in the country, but it’s a cool reward for a 19-0 start.

4. Cincinnati

Wes Miller absolutely needed that in the worst way. Sure, the damage might already be done regarding his future at Cincy, but a top 5 home win where his team controlled the game is about the only shot he has left. I’ll be honest, I was waiting for what felt like the inevitable collapse. It never came. Day Day Thomas was awesome, Jalen Celestine poured in 4 3s, and Baba Miller owned the boards. It was a full team effort for Cincy that could spark a season turnaround, but also highlights some “where has this been?” frustrations.

5. Braden Smith

Braden Smith is playing as well as anyone in the sport at the moment. He is embodying a “do what the team needs from me” mentality by picking up the scoring load with Trey Kaufman-Renn’s recent struggles. He had 22 points and only (so funny to say) 5 assists Saturday and sealed the game with an awesome steal and layup in the final minute. He is sneaking back into the National Player of the Year race. Look out.

6. #99 Xaivian Lee

Florida had a manager’s nightmare on Saturday, leaving a handful of jerseys in Gainesville ahead of their matchup with Vanderbilt. One of these jerseys belonged to Xaivian Lee who was forced to wear a namplate-less #99 for what was his best game in a Gator uniform yet. He put up 20 points on 8-13 shooting and also grabbed 6 rebounds in a game where his backcourt mate, Boogie Fland, struggled offensively. If you’re Lee, how do you go back to #1 after that performance?

7. Boston College

BOSTON COLLEGE HAS AN ACC WIN. I REPEAT, BOSTON COLLEGE HAS AN ACC WIN. Scoring an 8 point overtime triumph over Syracuse, Boston College is on the board in ACC play. Fred Payne, who has stuck with that program for 3 years now, was tremendous with 26 points. Donald Hand Jr., who has stuck with that program for 4 years, hit the game tying 3 in the final seconds of regulation. I’m happy for those guys to have a cool moment together in what is clearly a lost season for Earl Grant.
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The remaining power conference teams that are winless in conference are Florida State (0-5), Kansas State (0-5), Penn State (0-7), and Northwestern (0-7). Northwestern and Penn State play on 1/29, so we are creeping in on an 0-9 vs 0-9 matchup.