The connections between Alabama basketball’s Nate Oats and the Hurley brothers are well-documented. When Dan Hurley and Oats meet in Saturday’s Final Four semifinal, it will be a battle between two friends, dating back to Oats’ time as a high school coach in Michigan.

The two share some basketball DNA as well. On Thursday in Glendale, Ariz., Oats was asked what similarities exist between his Crimson Tide and Hurley’s Huskies.

“Everybody makes it out to be like we’re the ones doing all the analytics and efficiency,” Oats said. “Danny is about that stuff, too. Me and Danny have talked about it. They’re trying to get the most efficient shots they can. Trying to force inefficient shots. They do it a little bit differently because they have a post player in Clingan they can go to. We don’t play through the post as much.”

Oats worked for Hurley’s brother Bobby, now the head coach at Arizona State, as an assistant at Buffalo. He said on Friday that he still uses practice drills that he learned from Bobby.

He compared the offenses of Alabama and UConn, noting that both have the ability to hit shots from deep. However, Oats pointed out that the two teams take different tactics on the offensive end of the floor, in part due to the Huskies having 7-foot-2, 280-pound center Donovan Clingan.

“They like to shoot a lot of threes, too,” Oats said. “Every big run I’ve seen them make, they made plenty of threes. They take threes in the break, like we take ‘em. Now, we play a little more loose and free in the halfcourt. They’re a little more set oriented. They’re going to run a set every time they don’t score quickly in a transition break.Our guys play a little bit more in a flow.”

UConn is the top-ranked team in the NCAA Tournament. The Huskies have been winning big, and were favored by 11.5 points in the week leading up to Saturday’s game.

Oats acknowledged the challenge of facing his old friend’s team on Friday.

“Obviously we’re big underdogs, we know that,” Oast said. “UConn is very good. They’ve been running through the competition. But I don’t think our guys are scared. I think our guys are confident in their abilities. We’re getting healthy, we’ll be ready. We know it’s going to be a tough game.”

Alabama and UConn are scheduled to tip off at approximately 7:49 p.m. CT Saturday.