The Alabama Crimson Tide men’s basketball program has brought new life to the sport on campus under Nate Oats over the last half decade or so, and Saturday night in Coleman Coliseum was the perfect representation of just how much.

With the Auburn Tigers in town and a chance to potentially end the tournament hopes for the program’s most hated rival, the stakes were high, and the crowd was absolutely on fire from the opening tip.

While Alabama ultimately took the game 96-84, it was largely a domination from the Tide and things got out of hand quickly.

Afterwards, Oats thanked the students for the energy they brought into the building.

“A lot of positives to come from this game. We have the best student section in the SEC, and I really appreciate what they’ve given us all year,” Oats said before speaking about the three seniors that were honored after the game.

“It’s great to get a win on senior night. The three we celebrated are some of the best seniors as far as culture-wise. I am very disappointed Houston Mallette didn’t get to score on senior night. He doesn’t really care, and to me, that’s why he’s so great,” he continued. “He just cared that we won and that he ended up winning the hard hat. (Latrell) Wrightsell has come on great, and he didn’t score it as well as he has been tonight. Noah (Williamson) has been great with his attitude and with everything we need from him, so those three guys to get a win on senior night, I couldn’t be happier for them.”

For Alabama, next up is the SEC Tournament in Nashville, where they have earned the No. 2 seed after finishing the regular season with a 23-8 record and 13-5 conference record.

They will face either Georgia or the winner or Ole Miss vs. Texas on Wednesday night after earning a double bye into the quarterfinals, which will begin on Friday night.