Alabama men's basketball coach Nate Oats apologized for pushing Missouri forward Aidan Shaw toward his bench during a confrontation between Shaw and Alabama guard Aaron Estrada in the Crimson Tide's 93-75 win on Tuesday.
Estrada had fouled Missouri's Anthony Robinson II after a rebound with 7:34 left in the first half. The two players got tangled up, and Shaw stepped up to Estrada as Robinson walked away.
Oats then stepped between Estrada and Shaw to separate them and pushed Shaw in the direction of the Missouri bench. After the game, Oats said he apologized to both Shaw and Missouri coach Dennis Gates. «I have all the respect in the world for the job [Gates has] done as an assistant and head coach,» Oats said. «No disrespect to him or his program.
I apologized to both Coach Gates and Aidan Shaw. Aidan seems like a great kid. It's an unfortunate situation, but I apologized to both of them.» In Gates' postgame news conference, he confirmed Oats apologized but also questioned why Oats wasn't assessed a technical foul. «Nate apologized after the game,» Gates said. «But I just posed the question: If that was players in a huddle with a hand on an opponent, what would take place?