How to Watch: No. 11 Alabama Basketball at No. 1 Houston

Everything you need to know about the Crimson Tide's road test against the top-ranked team in the nation.

After Alabama's win over South Dakota State Saturday night, head coach Nate Oats talked about the tough stretch coming up for his Crimson Tide team. And it starts with a road trip to the top-ranked team in the country, the Houston Cougars. 

Alabama and Houston played an epic matchup in Coleman Coliseum last season, where the Crimson Tide came away with the one-point win. Now, Alabama has to make the return trip against a Cougar team that surely has not forgotten that close game. 

Houston is one of the best defensive teams in the country, only allowing 48 points per game as part of its undefeated record through eight games. The Cougars return several of their top players from a season ago like Marcus Sasser and Jamal Shead. Sasser leads the team in scoring averaging 17.5 points per game. 

Freshman Brandon Miller leads Alabama at 19.1 points per game and has scored in double-digits in all of the Crimson Tide's contests. This will be just the second true road contest for Alabama's young team. It beat South Alabama on the road 65-55 Nov. 15 and went 2-1 in a neutral court setting at the Phil Knight Invitational in Portland, Oregon. 

Here's everything you need to know about the matchup between the Crimson Tide and Cougars:

How to Watch Alabama at Houston

Who: No. 11 Alabama (7-1) vs. No. 1 Houston (8-0)*

(*ranking as of Sunday afternoon. A new set of rankings will come out Monday.)

When: 2 p.m,. CT, Saturday

Where: Fertitta Center, Houston, Texas

TV: ABC

Live Stream: fuboTV (Start your free trial)

Radio: Crimson Tide Sports Network (Play-By-Play: Chris Stewart; Analyst: Bryan Passink). The pregame show will begin one hour prior to tipoff.

Series: Alabama leads 1-0

Last Meeting:  The Crimson Tide and Cougars met inside Coleman Coliseum last December for a top-15 clash. The game came down to the last second, literally. Alabama's JD Davison swatted away a Houston shot as the buzzer expired, and the Crimson Tide hung on for a one-point win, 83-82. 

Last time out, Alabama: South Dakota State decided to leave Noah Clowney open from 3 early on, and he made them pay. Clowney hit four of his first five 3-point shots on the way to a 22-point performance, and Alabama beat South Dakota State 78-65. Alabama had built up to a 20-point lead in the first half but began to get complacent on defense, slowly letting the Jackrabbits back into the game.  A dunk from Nimari Burnett spurred Alabama on to the double-digit win in the second half. 

Last time out, Houston: The Cougars had a close call against Saint Mary's in The Battleground 2k22 in Fort Worth, Texas. The Cougars held an 11-point halftime lead, but Saint Mary's roared back to cut it within three points multiple times in the second half. The Houston defense clamped down for the 53-48 win. J'Wan Roberts had 15 points for the Cougars in the win.  

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