Gut check time.
Currently saddled with a three-game losing streak, Oklahoma (11-6, 1-3) has their backs against the wall as they host No. 18 Alabama (12-5, 2-2) on Saturday at the Lloyd Noble Center.
Simply put, the Sooners really need a win. After some encouraging signs in the back end of non-conference play and a very solid showing in their SEC opener, OU has flat out not played winning basketball over the last couple of weeks. Following back-to-back road losses, Oklahoma laid an egg on their home floor on Tuesday night in a decisive defeat to the defending national champion Florida Gators.
There is still time to turn the season around for the Sooners, but they’ll need to do so quickly and that starts with another stiff test at home against a top-20 Crimson Tide team that reached the Elite Eight a season ago. Alabama comes into play at 2-2 in league play after having taken down Mississippi State on the road in Starkville on Tuesday night. The Tide are coached by Nate Oats in his seventh year in Tuscaloosa.
Saturday’s tilt will be the 12th all-time meeting between Oklahoma and Alabama with OU leading the series 7-4, including a perfect 4-0 at games in Norman. That includes one of the more memorable and signature wins of the Porter Moser era when the Sooners upset the No. 2-ranked Crimson Tide 93-69 in 2023 – with fans then subsequently storming the Lloyd Noble Center court.
Last season, Oklahoma traveled to Tuscaloosa for their first ever SEC game since moving to the conference. That game did not go as well for the Sooners, as OU was blasted 107-79 in one of the more lopsided games of the Porter Moser tenure.
After hosting the Crimson Tide, Oklahoma will get back out on the road for two straight road contests at South Carolina and at Missouri before returning home to host No. 17 Arkansas on Tuesday, January 27th.
For Saturday’s SEC collision between two teams wearing crimson, here is everything you need to know:
Tip time: Noon CT
Where: Lloyd Noble Center (Norman, OK)
NCAA Net/KenPom Rankings: Oklahoma – 69/57 | Alabama – 18/16
How to watch: SEC Network
On the call: Kevin Fitzgerald & Mark Wise
How to listen (national): ESPN Radio
On the call: Mike Couzens & Bob Valvano
How to listen (local): Sooner Sports Network – KRXO 107.7 FM in Oklahoma City; KTBZ 1430 AM in Tulsa; The Varsity App
On the call: Toby Rowland & Kevin Henry
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