"Very disappointing, it's disgusting and it's frustrating": Nate Oats takes responsibility as Ole Miss pulls off major upset vs Mark Sears' Alabama

Alabama coach Nate Oats was honest and blunt with his assessment of the team's 74-64 loss to No. 21 Ole Miss on Tuesday night. The Rebels snapped the No. 4 Crimson Tide's unbeaten home win record this season and handed them their third loss of the season.

Nate Oats took the blame for Alabama's inability to take care of the basketball and its lack of energy level in the post-game press conference.

"Look, it starts with me," he said (9:02), "because I’m supposed to be the one motivating these guys, and I obviously didn’t motivate them very well to make sure they’re ready. So I’m gonna have to look in the mirror and see what I did, didn’t do."

"I’m gonna have to have a good talk with some of these seniors that are supposed to be on leaders ... it’s very disappointing. It’s disgusting, and it’s frustrating," Oats added. (9:17).

The Crimson Tide committed 21 turnovers in the game compared to just seven for Ole Miss. They were in the lead by four points at halftime but then got outscored 42-28 in the second half.

"I got to figure out how to do a better job making sure guys are ready to go," Oats said (0:20). "Our first 10 possessions, we had seven turnovers. We've been having issues with turnovers throughout the year."

In addition, the Crimson Tide only recorded 4 offensive rebounds in the matchup. Their 47 field goal attempt numbers were also well below Ole Miss' 70 shots. The loss was Alabama's first in SEC play and dropped them to 14-3 overall on the season.

Alabama fails to score 70 points for the first time this season

Alabama entered the Ole Miss game on Tuesday, averaging 91.1 points per contest. However, they were held to just 64 points, which marked the first time this season that Nate Oats' men failed to reach the 70-point threshold.

The fewest points the Crimson Tide had scored in a game prior to the loss was 72 in a win over McNeese in November.

In this latest defeat, no Alabama player scored more than 15 points. Sophomore guard Aden Holloway led the team with 15 points and six rebounds while senior Mark Sears had one of his poorest outings of the season, registering just 11 points on 2-of-8 shooting. Veteran forward Grant Nelson only managed to tally 9 points in the loss.

The Crimson Tide's next game is against No. 8 Kentucky (14-3, 3-1 SEC) on Saturday at Rupp Arena and is a key SEC matchup.