Nate Oats met privately with forward Mo Wague, who was suspended by the SEC for “committing a fighting act” during Alabama basketball’s win over Florida on Wednesday night.

Thursday, the SEC suspended Wague for one game for striking Florida’s Alex Condon in the back of the head with his elbow/forearm during a play in the first half of Wednesday’s game. During a press conference Friday, Oats said he has since spoken to Wague, who expressed his regret for his actions.

“It’s not something we do,” Oats said. “He was extremely apologetic. For anybody that knows him, he’s a great kid. I think he told me he apologized to [Condon] in the handshake line.”

Along with apologizing to Condon on the court following the game, Oats said Wague reached out to the Florida forward privately over through social media. Still, Oats agrees with the SEC’s decision to suspend his player, stating that there are “consequences for your actions.”

“Shoot, if they didn’t suspend him, we would have suspended him,” Oats said. “That’s not behavior we condone or tolerate around here, and the penalties appropriate for the situation.”

NCAA rules require a suspension for the next regular-season game when a player commits an act of fighting defined as “a confrontation involving one or more players, coaches or other team personnel wherein (but not limited to) a fist, hand, arm, foot, knee or leg is used to combatively strike the other individual.”

Wague has started eight games over 24 appearances this season. The 6-foot-10, 225-pound junior is averaging 4.0 points and 2.8 rebounds and 0.5 blocks while shooting 64.8% from the floor over 10 minutes a game. He was held scoreless with one rebound over three minutes during Alabama’s 98-93 overtime win over Florida.

Alabama (19-7, 11-2 in the SEC) will face Kentucky (18-8, 8-5) at 3 p.m. CT on Saturday inside Rupp Arena in Lexington Kentucky. The game will be televised on CBS.