What is familiar to Alabama basketball fans might be little-known to the bigger world of college hoops. Rivals meet again as the Crimson Tide prepares to face Creighton in its return to Coleman Coliseum.
Coach Nate Oats and No. 8 Alabama (7-2) tip off against the unranked Bluejays at 7:30 p.m. CT on Saturday.
Creighton (7-3) makes its debut in Tuscaloosa on a three-game win streak, which included an upset of No. 1 Kansas last Wednesday while UA took down UNC. That came after three straight losses in the last two weeks of November against Nebraska, along with No. 24 San Diego State and No. 18 Texas A&M in the Players Era Festival.
SMARR | HEY SEC: Send Duke to Alabama basketball in next year’s SEC/ACC challenge
OFF THE BOARD: Why nation’s No. 1 recruit AJ Dybantsa chose BYU over Nate Oats and Alabama basketball
Here are three things to know before gameday is back in T-Town.
Alabama basketball out for 3-point redemption vs Creighton
Just a couple more threes would’ve made the difference in last year’s loss at Creighton. Alabama was led by 19 points for Mark Sears, but went 4-for-22 from the arc down the roster.
Entering Saturday, Alabama is shooting 33.1% of threes compared to 33.7% for Creighton, which has since lost the team’s second-leading scorer Pop Isaac. Although UA is operating without Latrell Wrightsell Jr. (ACL), sharp-shooting Pepperdine transfer Houston Mallette has knocked off his redshirt, and Alabama could field its most lethal weapon yet should USF transfer Chris Youngblood (ankle) make his first official appearance in the Crimson and White.
How will Alabama answer for Creighton big man Ryan Kalkbrenner
The 7-foot-1, 270-pound senior finished the 2023-24 season ranked second in the nation in blocks per game and seventh in the country in field goal percentage. Kalkbrenner, who was a finalist for Naismith Defensive Player of the Year in 2023 and 2024, will be one of the toughest challenges yet for UA’s offense and defense, as he leads Creighton with an average 17.3 points per game.
In last year’s defeat, Kalkbrenner missed a majority of the first half with injury, but came out to surge Creighton to the win with 18 points in the final 20 minutes.
Is history in the making for Alabama basketball vs Creighton?
Alabama basketball has yet to defeat Creighton. After three meetings, one seeing the Crimson Tide eliminated from the second-round of the NCAA tournament in 2012 and another exiting UA from the 2016 NIT Tournament, Oats is on the hunt to help his program clinch another statement win this weekend.
Emilee Smarr covers Alabama basketball for the Tuscaloosa News. She can be reached via email at esmarr@gannett.com.
This article originally appeared on The Tuscaloosa News: How will Alabama basketball answer for Creighton big Ryan Kalkbrenner
