Unhappy Nate Oats inadvertently blurts out prediction for Duke vs Arizona after Alabama Sweet 16 win

Nate Oats apparently wasn’t thrilled with Alabama's lopsided victory over BYU in the Sweet 16. So much so that he neglected Arizona and already had Duke advancing to the Elite Eight around 20 minutes ahead of their matchup.

In an on-court interview after the game, the Crimson Tide coach called out his team’s defense before mistakenly “giving” the Blue Devils a ticket to the Regional Final.

“We got to lock in on defense. We had too many defensive struggles. We gotta be better against Duke," Nate Oats said.

While Duke was heavily favored entering their Sweet 16 matchup, the Blue Devils still had to take care of business to face the Crimson Tide for a spot in the Final Four. It will be Alabama’s second straight trip to the Final Four after never making it that far before.

Despite Nate Oats’ disappointment, the Tide’s defense limited BYU‘s perimeter shooting to only 20% from beyond the arc. The Cougars dominated the paint and scored over 48% from the field.

Potentially facing a Blue Devils team that features Cooper Flagg and Khaman Maluach in the paint, Oats’ concern is understandable, and blurting out Duke is a heat-of-the-moment thing but out of character for a coach.

Before Nate Oats arrived at Alabama, the Tide had made the Elite Eight only once in school history. They will be playing their second straight Regional Final on Saturday.

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Nate Oats’ Alabama establishes 3-point record

Nate Oats may have been concerned about Alabama’s defense against BYU. The offense, though, isn't something the coach should panic about. The Crimson Tide was particularly comfortable shooting 3-pointers in their Sweet 16 matchup as they scored a March-Madness record with 25 trays.

The previous record was 21 3-point buckets by Loyola Marymount in an upset over Michigan in 1990.

Mark Sears led the way with 10 made shots from beyond the arc, one short of the record, set by Jeff Fryer from that Loyola-Marymount team. It was a very solid performance by the senior after hitting one of nine attempts in his previous two tournament games.

The Alabama offense is one of the best in the nation and thrives at scoring from the perimeter. The Crimson Tide is seventh in the nation with 10.6 made 3-pointers per game. They also lead the nation with 91.6 points per game. If they want to keep advancing, it might come down to the offense for the rest pf the tourney.