TUSCALOOSA, Ala. -- Earlier this week, Alabama coach Nate Oats preached the importance this week carries for the Crimson Tide men’s basketball team’s postseason hopes.

Facing a pair of ranked teams, Alabama had two opportunities to add Quadrant 1 wins to its resume. But after an overtime loss on the road at Auburn on Wednesday, the Tide’s home game against No. 25 LSU becomes a must-win matchup for NCAA Tournament chances.

“We would have liked to go 2-0 this week,” Oats said Thursday. “We really need to split it. Our players understand that. We’re kind of behind the 8-ball as it is. It will make it really, really hard if we don’t pick this win up on Saturday. This game Saturday is as big as they get.”

Despite its loss to Auburn, Alabama (13-11, 5-6 SEC) actually moved up to No. 39 in the NET rankings and has the nation’s No. 9 overall strength of schedule (as of Feb. 14). The Crimson Tide leads the SEC in strength of schedule and is one of seven teams in the league with a NET ranking inside the top 50. The remaining Quadrant 1 games on the Tide’s regular-season schedule are LSU (No. 28) on Feb. 15 and Mississippi State (49) on Feb. 25.

LSU defeated Alabama, 90-76, in Baton Rouge, La., on Jan. 29 in a game where the Tigers outrebounded the Tide, 49-31. It was also the game that Herbert Jones fractured his left wrist. The junior wing will be able to play Saturday, though with a bulky cast on his hand.

“It’d be nice to have Herb full-strength -- we don’t. We’ll play him what we can,” Oats said. “Other guys are going to have to step up. And (LSU) killed us on the glass at their place, and we just got destroyed on the glass against Auburn (60-44). So, that’s going to be the biggest point of emphasis here. … If we can rebound with LSU, I think we can beat them.

“If they’re going to punish us on the glass, I’m not sure we’re going to be able to beat them. We keep preaching it to our guys, and hopefully, we show some toughness in the game.”

Alabama players huddle together at Auburn Arena.

Rebounding isn’t the only factor Oats has brought up to his players ahead of Saturday’s game against LSU, which will tip-off at 3 p.m. CT at Coleman Coliseum and will air on ESPN2.

Senior Skylar Mays leads five players who average in double figures at 16.2 ppg, while also topping the team in steals (2.0 spg), minutes (34.1) and field goals made (129) and attempted (262). Mays scored 18 points the last time these two teams played back in January.

“Skylar Mays is good,” Oats said. “We’ve got to make sure we’ve got that matchup right. We’ve got to make sure our guys are locked into him. In my opinion, if they end up winning the league, he might be the Player of the Year in the league. Figure out who’s the best player on the best team in the league, and they’ve got to get pretty hard consideration that. I don’t know that his numbers necessarily say he’s their best player, but I think he makes them go.”

Heading into Saturday’s pivotal game with LSU, Alabama is a combined 5-10 against Quadrant 1 and Quadrant 2 teams this season, owning 1-6 mark against Quadrant 1 opponents and a 4-4 record versus teams in Quadrant 2. The Tide would like to add a number to the Quadrant 1 win column against a team tied for the conference lead with both Auburn and Kentucky.

“This is a super, super big win that we need to get,” Jaden Shackelford said. “I feel like we played well in the second half against back at LSU. We’ve got to have a better start to this game. But this one would be super huge for us, and we’ve just to come prepared and locked in.”

Contact Charlie Potter by personal message or on Twitter (@Charlie_Potter).