Nate Oats breaks Wimp Sanderson record in Alabama’s win over Kentucky

Alabama basketball’s win over No. 17 Kentucky on Saturday came with a cherry on top for Nate Oats. He scored his 26th win over an AP top 25 team throughout his tenure as head coach at Alabama, taking sole possession of UA’s record in that department.

Oats passed Wimp Sanderson, who had 25.

“Wimp did a really good job here, I’m guessing that the SEC is a lot better now so there’s a lot more opportunities than he probably had,” Oats, in his sixth season as the Tide’s head coach, said after the win. “And when they give you the opportunity, you take advantage of them and try to get it done. We don’t have enough because we had a chance to get two more in the last two games before this.”

The Crimson Tide fell behind early in the first half, but came roaring back to best the Wildcats 96-83. Mark Sears led the way for the Crimson Tide, with his second consecutive 30-point game.

Alabama will close out the regular season with four more games against top 25 teams, starting with Mississippi State on Tuesday, followed by matchups with Tennessee, Florida and Auburn.

“I think it does speak to the level of the SEC as a whole, that now we’ve got all these opportunities, I mean every game we play the rest of the year is a top 25 team,” Oats said. “So, I’m guessing Wimp didn’t have that many opportunities like we have. But you’ve also gotta go win them, so a lot of credit to our guys that we’ve had here.”

Saturday’s win moved Alabama to 22-5 on the season, 11-3 in SEC play. It snapped a two-game losing streak, after the Crimson Tide fell to Auburn and Missouri.

Alabama will face Mississippi State at 8 p.m. CT Tuesday at Coleman Coliseum. The game will be aired on ESPN2 or ESPNU.