Nate Oats left reporters waiting Monday afternoon, as Alabama basketball’s practice ran longer than expected. The Crimson Tide is doing everything possible to ensure it doesn’t endure a repeat of last week’s no-show performance against Ole Miss.

“It took a few drills, a few minutes longer than we planned because I told them last week, on my end, I’m gonna hold them a little bit more accountable, and I think they’re seeing that I’m serious about it,” Oats said following practice. “I thought the defensive effort in practice picked up because we’re not having a repeat of what we had last week. I think you’ll see a lot better effort out of the group starting the game out.”

After suffering an uninspiring 74-64 defeat to the Rebels in its last game inside Coleman Coliseum a week ago, the Tide will host an equally pesky Vanderbilt team Tuesday night.

The Commodores (15-3, 3-2) are coming off an upset win over Tennessee over the weekend. Meanwhile, Alabama (15-3, 4-1) also has momentum on its side following a 102-97 victory at Kentucky.

Tuesday’s meeting will be the lone regular-season game between the two programs. Last season, Alabama recorded a 78-75 win in Nashville, Tennessee.

Here’s everything you need to know about Tuesday’s game.

Who: No. 4 Alabama (15-3, 4-1) vs. Vanderbilt (15-3, 3-2)

When: 6 p.m. CT, Tuesday, Jan. 21

Where: Coleman Coliseum, Tuscaloosa, Alabama

Watch: SEC Network (Play-By-Play: Kevin Fitzgerald, Analyst: Richard Hendrix)

Listen: Crimson Tide Sports Network | SIRIUS/XM 134/201 (Play-By-Play: Chris Stewart, Analyst: Bryan Passink)

Mark Sears: 6-foot-1, 190 pounds, graduate

Stats: 18.9 ppg, 3.0 rpg, 4.8 apg, 40.4% FG, 35.1% 3-pt

Labaron Philon: 6-foot-4, 177 pounds, freshman

Stats: 11.6 ppg, 3.7 rpg, 3.8 apg, 48.2% FG, 29.5% 3-pt

Jarin Stevenson: 6-foot-11, 215 pounds, sophomore

Stats: 4.8 ppg, 3.6 rpg, 0.9 apg, 35.1% FG, 21.2% 3-pt

Grant Nelson: 6-foot-11, 230 pounds, graduate

Stats: 12.7 ppg, 8.7 rpg, 1.7 apg, 53.3% FG, 25.5% 3-pt

Clifford Omoruyi: 6-foot-11, 250 pounds, graduate

Stats: 7.4 ppg, 6.2 rpg, 0.7 apg, 74.3% FG

A.J. Hoggard: 6-foot-4, 220 pounds, graduate

Stats: 11.1 ppg, 2.6 rpg, 4.4 apg, 40.0% FG, 30.4% 3-pt

Jason Edwards: 6-foot-1, 175 pounds, junior

Stats: 17.1 ppg, 2.2 rpg, 1.5 apg, 45.8% FG, 38.3% 3-pt

Chris Manon: 6-foot-5, 215 pounds, graduate

Stats: 5.0 ppg, 3.2 rpg, 1.2 apg, 55.0% FG, 23.5% 3-pt

Tyler Nickel: 6-foot-7, 220 pounds, junior

Stats: 10.1 ppg, 2.2 rpg, 1.0 apg, 41.4% FG, 37.0% 3-pt

Devin McGlockton: 6-foot-7, 230 pounds, junior

Stats: 10.7 ppg, 7.9 rpg, 0.9 apg, 64.8% FG, 35.7% 3-pt

Oats is looking for better effort than what Alabama showed during its midweek loss to Ole Miss last week. The Tide will need it if it is going to fend off a Vanderbilt team that ranks No. 7 nationally averaging 10.2 steals per game.

The Commodores have piled up 43 steals in their five SEC games this season, including a whopping 15 during their win over South Carolina last week. That was the third time Vanderbilt recorded 15 or more steals in a game this season, as it also achieved the feat in wins over California (18) and Austin Peay (15). The Commodores lead the SEC with 16.1 turnovers forced per game.

Alabama coughed the ball up 21 times during its loss to Ole Miss last week. While the Commodores and the Rebels share different defensive approaches, Oats said he’s explained to his players how Vanderbilt creates turnovers while showing them previous mistakes they can’t afford to make Tuesday night. Perhaps the biggest one of those is an increased level of effort when the Tide steps onto the court.

“Hopefully with an intensity level and a focus that should come with playing conference games that wasn’t there last week, hopefully it’s there,” Oats said. “And with that, knowing what we have to do on the offensive end, we don’t turn the ball over like we did a week ago.”

It’s hard to tell which stat Oats was happier with against Kentucky. The Tide’s 85% conversion rate on free throws was impressive, but the head coach might be even more impressed with his team’s ability to get to the line 34 times on the road. According to Oats, those two stats go hand in hand, as better shooting from the line leads to more willingness to drive to the basket and draw fouls.

“I think it will help keep us aggressive,” Oats said of Alabama’s 29 of 34 shooting from the line against Kentucky. “We want to attack the rim with physicality. We want to draw fouls. I feel like sometimes when guys aren’t making their free throws and they don’t have that confidence they’re a little less aggressive and maybe don’t necessarily want to get to the free-throw line.”

Grant Nelson is a perfect example of Oats' point. Over his previous six games leading into the matchup against Kentucky, the graduate forward made just 7 of 20 free-throw attempts. That included a 3 of 7 performance during last week’s loss to Ole Miss where he missed two momentum-changing foul shots.

Determined to improve his success from the line, Nelson lived at the line following practice heading into the matchup against Kentucky. According to Oats, Nelson made 90 of 100 free throws last Thursday and followed that up with a 91 of 100 showing last Friday. The hard work paid off, as he nailed 9 of 10 free-throw attempts over the weekend.

Nelson’s 90% success rate was a season-best in any game where he has attempted 3 or more free throws. Meanwhile, his 10 trips to the line matched his season-high set during the Tide’s win over McNeese State. That led to yet another season-high, as Nelson led Alabama with 25 points against Kentucky.

Now that Nelson is back rolling from the line, Oats said he hopes fellow forward Mo Dioubate can have a similar turnaround. The sophomore is making 68.3% of his free throws this season, up from 47.1% last year. However, he is just 7 of 15 since the start of SEC play and converted on just 4 of 7 trips to the line against Kentucky.

Alabama is shooting 70.8% from the line this season. Oats said he’d like to see that number get up to around 80% in order to further open up the offense. While that’s still a work in progress, Saturday’s showing was a big step in the right direction.

“If we don’t make our free throws against Kentucky, we don’t win that game,” Oats said. “We’re going to continue to emphasize it, get guys in before practice, after practice, outside of practice making free throws. … It’s the little detail things that matter that go into winning and losing.”

Last week’s loss to Ole Miss snapped Alabama’s eight-game winning streak inside Coleman Coliseum dating back to last season. For freshman guard Labaron Philon, it marked the first time he suffered a loss in front of his home fans since joining the Crimson Tide. That feeling didn’t sit well with the Mobile native, who vowed Monday to never feel it again for the remainder of the season.

“We’re not losing at home no more,” Philon said during a Monday appearance on the Hey Coach radio show. “I just gotta start there. We lost to Ole Miss last Tuesday, but we’re just gonna be ready and we’re gonna have a lot of fire and we’re gonna be ready to play tomorrow. So get ready to see that.”

That’s a bold claim considering who Alabama still has to face at home this season. While the Tide should be heavy favorites in this week’s home matchups against Vanderbilt and LSU, a meeting against Georgia on Feb. 1 figures to be a bit more challenging. It doesn’t get any easier from there as the rest of the Tide’s home slate includes matchups against No. 1 Auburn (Feb. 15), No. 9 Kentucky (Feb. 22), No. 14 Mississippi State (Feb. 25) and No. 5 Florida (March 5).

— Alabama has six wins over AP Top 25 opponents, one away from tying the program record for most in a single season set during the 2022-23 campaign.

— Alabama's three wins over AP Top-10 teams this year are the most in a season since the 1982-83 campaign.

— Oats has 24 AP Top-25 wins during his tenure at Alabama. That ranks second all-time in the program's history, one behind Wimp Sanderson.

— Since the start of last season Alabama has scored 100 points or more in 15 games, which ranks No. 1 throughout Division I.

— Vanderbilt started the season at 12-1, its best 13-game start under a first-year head coach in program history. Commodores head coach Mark Byington took over the program after spending the past four seasons in charge of James Madison.

— During SEC Play, Alabama's Mark Sears leads the conference with 7.0 assists per game while Vandy's A.J. Hoggard ranks No. 4 at 4.6 apg.

— Vanderbilt’s roster ranks ninth nationally in minutes played last season.