Nate Oats, Grant Nelson silence Charles Barkley's 'frail' criticism with win over UNC

The Alabama Crimson Tide are heading to the Elite Eight for the first time since 2004 and they have Grant Nelson to thank for that.

The big man was enormous in Alabama's Sweet 16 victory over No. 1 seed North Carolina. He dropped a game-high 24 points, dominated the glass with 12 rebounds and defended like a madman with five blocks.

Nelson's performance came after Charles Barkley's assertion that Alabama was "a frail team" and wouldn't be able to "match up with the physicality of UNC" or "handle North Carolina in the post."

Head coach Nate Oats was listening and he called out the CBS analyst, even though he picked the Tide to win.

“Charles Barkley called us frail. I don’t think he was frail tonight," Oats said after the upset victory, pointing to Nelson.

Alabama makes Charles Barkley eat his "frail" criticism

It wasn't just that Nelson had a huge game. The Tide went toe-to-toe with UNC in rebounding, 43 to 46. They outscored the Tar Heels in the paint, 36 to 32.

Oats had to shake his team out of their stupor in the first half. They trailed 54-46 at the break. His message was received loud and clear though. They held UNC to just 33 points in the second half. Their defense gave them their chance at victory.

While Nelson was the star, Mark Sears, Rylan Griffen and Aaron Estrada were also excellent with 18, 19 and 19 points respectively.

Alabama will move on to face the No. 6 seed Clemson Tigers, who toppled No. 2 seed Arizona earlier on Thursday.

North Carolina was the first No. 1 seed to fall in 2024. For Alabama, it was a matter of exorcising the demons from their own loss as a No. 1 seed in the Sweet 16 last year.

Maybe they were frail in the past. They're anything but now.