Alabama Basketball Versus Houston Called Off, Replaced With Western Kentucky

The Crimson Tide will now face the Hilltoppers on Saturday at 1 p.m (CT)

No. 6 Houston won't be coming to Tuscaloosa to face the University of Alabama on Saturday afternoon due to the Cougars dealing with issues related to COVID-19 inside their program.

Instead, the Crimson Tide will be taking on Western Kentucky inside Coleman Coliseum at 1 p.m (CT) and will be broadcasted on SEC Network Plus. 

Coach Rick Stansbury's Hilltoppers own a record of 5-2, including a pair of wins over Memphis and Rhode Island, while its two losses have occurred against nationally-ranked foes in West Virginia and Louisville. 

Tickets purchased for the Houston game will count toward the newly-scheduled bout with Western Kentucky.

Before then, Alabama (3-2) will take on Furman, to start a four-game home stand, on Tuesday night at 8 p.m (CT) on SEC Network.

The Crimson Tide is coming off of a 64-56 loss to Clemson over the weekend in Atlanta during the Holiday Hoopsgiving event at State Farm Arena.

"Furman's really good," Alabama coach Nate Oats said. "They shoot the ball really well. They run their stuff really crisp. They have a couple athletic bigs that give them some rim protection... Defensively, they are better than you think for a school that's a mid-major. They are more athletic than you think, too. They played us really tough here last year. They were up halfway through the second half so we have our hands full. It will not be an easy game. They are 70th in KenPom and ranked above a handful of SEC teams. It helps in our prep that we played them last year."