Alabama basketball coach Nate Oats didn't know assistant coach chirped with Scotty Pippen Jr.

TAMPA — Alabama basketball coach Nate Oats wasn't aware one of his assistant coaches chirped with Vanderbilt's Scotty Pippen Jr. before Thursday's SEC Tournament game.

Pippen, who breathed flames at the Crimson Tide on Wednesday by calling it "a very beatable team" and "a team we wanted to play," claimed Alabama returned the favor with bulletin-board material before the game.

Vanderbilt won 82-76 to eliminate Alabama, defending champion of the tournament.

"One of the Bama coaches said that, 'You asked for it, so you're going to get it,' or something like that," Pippen said. "So it was kind of good to get back at him and get the win."

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Pippen scored 26 points to lead all scorers.

"I didn't know anything about that," Oats said when asked about the pregame exchange. "Probably not something we want our assistants doing, talking to the other players before the game. That's probably not the smartest thing to be doing. So, (I'll) address that afterward here. I didn't know anything about that."