The Alabama Basketball team will have another chance to add a ranked win to its resume following a 92-86 loss to the Purdue Boilermakers. The Creighton Blue Jays will enter the matchup coming off their second loss of the season to unranked UNLV. The Blue Jays entered the week ranked eighth a ranking which will likely fall following their loss to the Rebels.
The Blue Jays struggled shooting in their loss to UNLV which also was the reason they lost to unranked Colorado State. The Blue Jays shot 27% from three on Wednesday while shooting 40% from the field. Besides turnovers, the Blue Jays were hurt by turnovers as they turned the ball over eleven times to UNLV's six turnovers.
Like Alabama Basketball Creighton has struggled defensively allowing 65 points per game which rises to 70 points per game when accounting for only power five schools. Poor defense has been the story of the season thus far for the Alabama Basketball team as they allow 76.77 points per game which rises to 90 points against power five opponents.
This should be the first game in a while where the Alabama Basketball team is at full strength heading into a game. Grant Nelson entered last weekend's Purdue game questionable with an ankle injury, despite the injury Nelson played scoring eleven points grabbing seven rebounds and dished out five assists.
The Purdue game also saw the return of Nick Pringle who was suspended from the team for "Conduct detrimental to the team". Pringle was held to only nine minutes due to foul trouble which kept him off the score sheet as he recorded a block and a rebound.
Alabama Basketball: Must Seize an opportunity heading into SEC Play
The Alabama Basketball team must seize an opportunity and record a big resume win before they head into conference play in January. The team squandered a second-half lead against Purdue while dropping games against Ohio State and Clemson. They enter a two-game stretch of Eighth-ranked Creighton and the number-one team in Arizona. At 6-3, the Alabama Basketball team needs to win one of these next two matchups as they prepare for SEC play. The three losses have caused the Alabama Basketball team to fall out of the AP Top 25 for the first time since 2020. SEC play will provide the Alabama Basketball team with plenty of opportunities as Tennessee and Kentucky are ranked while Ole Miss is undefeated and Mississippi State, Texas A&M, and Auburn sit right outside the Top 25.
Note: Stats via ESPN