Live Updates: No. 9 Alabama Crimson Tide Basketball at No. 24 Oklahoma Sooners

Tip-off between two of the hottest teams in the country is set for 11 a.m (CT) on ESPN

Second Half

• Alabama falls on road at Oklahoma, 66-61. Reese scored a team-high 15 points with five rebounds, two assists, and one steal.

• Harkless scores a step-back jumper over Ellis and that could be the dagger. 65-61 Sooners.

• Ellis misses from the corner and Manek gets the rebound. Oklahoma will call a timeout. 37 seconds left.

• Petty clanks the first but sinks the second. 63-61 Sooners.

• Petty takes in the pass underneath the basket and is fouled. He'll shoot two.

• Alabama trails by three, 63-60, after Hill makes two free throws.

• Hill gives Oklahoma a 61-60 lead with two foul shots.

• Ellis' two free throws put Alabama in front, 60-59.

• After the foul by Harkless, Ellis will be at the free-throw line when play resumes. 3:50 remaining. Alabama has made six of its last seven shots while Oklahoma has missed eight of its 10. 

• Ellis. Three-pointer. Alabama back within one, 59-58.

• Shackelford gets Harkless to commit a charge.

• Shackelford scores two from the free-throw line, 59-56.

• Manek gets the offensive board over Shackelford and extends Oklahoma's lead to five, 59-54.

• Harkless answers with a nice mid-range jumper. 

• Iwuakor misses the front-end of the one-and-one and Shackelford converts a triple. Alabama within one, 55-54.

• Ellis makes a layup and Alabama is on a 8-0 run. 55-51 OU with 7:30 left.

• Another triple from Reese. 55-49 OU.

• Reese answers with a three-pointer of his own. 55-46 OU.

• Jones cuts the Sooners' advantage to single digits but Harmon drills a triple and the Sooners have its biggest lead of the game at 12. 55-43.

• Manek converts on a long triple and Oklahoma now leads by nine, 50-41. 

• Jones makes 1-of-2 from the line. 

• Petty fouls Manek as he hits the and-one. He makes the free throw as well. 47-40 Sooners.

• Another basket by Harmon. 44-40 Sooners.

• Harmon can't complete the three-point play, 42-40 OU.

• Jones is called for a foul on Harmon's drive to the basket and he finishes the layup. In the process, Harmon hit Jones in the face with his off hand but the foul is on Jones. 

• Jones is at the charity stripe and he makes the first, but misses the second. All tied at 40.

• Shackelford gets a steal, leading to a layup on the other end. 40-39 OU.

• Jones ties it at 37 with a three-pointer from the left wing, but Gibson gives Oklahoma the lead again with a three of his own. 40-37.

• We are at the first media timeout of the half and Alabama is on a scoring drought of 2:24 from the field. 15:51 left to go.

• Hill throws down a huge slam dunk and its 37-34 Oklahoma. 

• A layup by Harkless gives the Sooners the lead at 35-34.

• Shackelford drains a three-pointer from the corner and Alabama has taken the lead, 34-32.

• Reese gets a steal and goes coast-to-coast for the first basket of the second half. 32-31 Oklahoma.

First Half

• Petty can't hit from three-point range and Oklahoma will take the 32-29 advantage into halftime. Petty has eight points and Reese has seven. The Crimson Tide is getting out-rebounded 22-14.

• Gibson is left open in the corner and nails a triple. Oklahoma has the lead 32-29. 

• Harkless ties the contest up at 29 with a three-pointer from the top of the key. Oklahoma has made its last four shot attempts.

• Harkless makes a long two and Reese answers with a thunderous dunk on the other end. 29-26 Alabama.

• The Crimson Tide has made six of its last eight shots from the field.

• Shackelford makes a circus shot under the basket and its 27-24 at the final media timeout of the half. 3:15 to play.

• Two quick jumpers by Hill and Kuath and its 25-24 Alabama.

• A layup from Reese extends Alabama's lead to five, 25-20.

• Petty again from deep. 23-20 Alabama. He has scored the last eight points for the Crimson Tide.

• Harmon quickly ties it up at 20 with a three-pointer of his own.

• Alabama gets its first lead of the game with a three-point basket from Petty, 20-17. 

• Petty ties it at 17 with two foul shots.

• Petty is now at the free-throw line after a foul by Manek. 7:24 to go.

• Shackelford scores a floater out of the timeout. Alabama forces a steal, leading to a dunk by Ellis. 17-15 Oklahoma.

• Harmon drills a long three-pointer and Oats calls a timeout. 17-11 Oklahoma. Alabama hasn't scored in 2:08 of action.

• James Rojas has checked in for Ambrose-Hylton. 

• Keon Ambrose-Hylton has made his way on the court for Alabama.

• Gibson scores a floater in the lane to make it 14-11.

• Oklahoma is one of its last 10 from the field.

• Primo cuts the Sooners' advantage to one with a three-pointer. 12-11 OU.

• Out of the timeout, the Sooners can't convert from deep. Their scoring drought continues from the field.

• Reese cans a triple. 12-8 Oklahoma. 11:46 to go.

• Alabama has turned it over twice on back-to-back possessions, one by Quinerly and one by Jones.

• The Sooners haven't scored a field goal in in the last 3:30 of play.

• Harkless is at the charity stripe after the foul by Ellis. He misses the first and sinks the second. 

• Harkless commits an offensive foul, which leads to a three-point basket from Ellis. 11-5 Oklahoma.

• Keon Ellis is on the floor for Alabama.

• First media timeout: OU 11, UA 2, 15:28 on the clock

• Jahvon Quinerly has checked in for the Crimson Tide.

• All Sooners early. Up 11-2 on Alabama. 9-0 run over the last minute. 

• Petty can't finish the easy layup and Oklahoma scores a basket on the other end from Harmon. 4-2 Oklahoma.

• Juwan Gary is the first sub off the bench for Alabama.

• Reese misses both shots.

• Reese is fouled on a dunk attempt. He'll head to the free-throw line.

• Primo drives in the lane and scores the basket. 2-2.

• Now, a travel by Jones. That's the third turnover to start the game for the Crimson Tide.

• Petty turns the ball over which leads to a fast break layup by Harmon. 2-0 Sooners. 

• Alabama wins the tip and we are underway in Norman.

Pregame

• Today's officials are Gary Maxwell, Rick Crawford, and Larry Spaulding. 

• The players missing for the Sooners are Austin Reaves and Alondes Williams. Reaves leads Oklahoma in points, rebounds, and assists.

• Oklahoma starters: Mo Gibson, De'Vion Harmon, Jalen Hill, Elijah Harkless, and Kur Kuath.

• Alabama starters: Herb Jones, John Petty Jr., Alex Reese, Josh Primo, and Jaden Shackelford. 

• Per Jeff Goodman of Stadium, Oklahoma will be without two starters. The reason was not given for their absences. 

Game Preview

After running through the first half of Southeastern Conference play unblemished at 9-0, the University of Alabama men's basketball team is headed to Norman to face No. 24 Oklahoma as part of the SEC/Big 12 Challenge on Saturday morning (11 a.m (CT), ESPN).

The ninth-ranked Crimson Tide is looking to bolster its NCAA tournament resume and show it can be a national player come time for the Big Dance.

"We’re winning games within the SEC," Alabama coach Nate Oats said after the program's first regular-season sweep of Kentucky since 1988-1989 on Tuesday night.

"If we could get a non-conference win in late January, that would be huge for our resume come March. We’re putting ourselves in a situation where we could have a pretty high seed, and this game would go a long ways if we could go on the road and get one. They’re really good.”

While Alabama has won 10 straight games, the Sooners (10-4, 6-3 Big 12) are on a hot streak of their own — winners of their last four, including back-to-back victories over then-No. 9 Kansas and No. 5 Texas.

Austin Reaves has been a machine for Oklahoma, leading the team in points (15.8), assists (5.1), and rebounds (5.1). The 6-foot-5, 205-pound guard is also shooting 43 percent from the field and 86 percent from the free-throw line.

As a whole, the Sooners are averaging 77.6 points per game, which is second in the Big 12. Defensively, Oklahoma is third in their conference with 7.8 steals each time out.

For Alabama, it hopes to use the next couple of days to get wing Herbert Jones, forwards Alex Reese and James Rojas, and guards John Petty Jr. and Jaden Shackelford as close to 100 percent as it can.

"We’ve gotta get our guys’ legs back under them for the Oklahoma game," Oats said.

As of Saturday morning, the Crimson Tide is anywhere from a 1.5-point favorite to a 1.5-point underdog according to different sportsbooks in Las Vegas. 

No. 9/8 Alabama at No. 24 Oklahoma

Where: Lloyd Noble Center

When: 11 a.m CT, Saturday

TV: ESPN

Radio: Crimson Tide Sports Network

Online: ESPN.com

Last time out, Alabama: The Crimson Tide completed its first regular-season sweep of Kentucky for the first time in over 30 years with a 70-59 win inside Coleman Coliseum on Tuesday night. Over the final four minutes, Alabama used an 18-5 run to put the Wildcats to sleep. Guard Jaden Shackelford scored a game-high 21 points and grabbed five rebounds, while wing Herb Jones scratched the surface of a triple-double with 13 points, nine rebounds, a career-high eight assists, two steals and two blocks.

Last time out, Oklahoma: The Sooners earned their second straight win over a top-10 ranked team with an 80-79 victory versus No. 5 Texas in Austin on Tuesday night. Guard Austin Reaves led the way for Oklahoma with a game-high 23 points and two game-winning free throws with 18.3 seconds on the clock. Guard De'Vion Harmon poured in 13 points to go along with six rebounds.

The series: This will be only the ninth meeting between both schools with the Sooners holding a 5-3 edge over the Crimson Tide all-time. Alabama has never won in Norman, losing 68-56 in 2005 and 79-73 in 1971. Ironically enough, two of Alabama's wins over the Sooners have come in 2002 and 2007, when the Crimson Tide was ranked inside the top 10 of the AP poll.

More on the last meeting: Alabama upset No. 12 Oklahoma on Jan. 27, 2018 inside Coleman Coliseum behind a team-high 18 points from future NBA lottery pick Collin Sexton. Three current Crimson Tide players still remain from that team in Jones, guard John Petty Jr. and forward Alex Reese. Jones added 14 points on 6-of-10 shooting, five rebounds, three assists, two steals, and one block off the bench on that day.