No. 2 Alabama Playing Another Team "Hungry" for a Big Win in Oklahoma

The Crimson Tide struggled with Mississippi State on Wednesday night. The Sooners will pose a similar challenge.

TUSCALOOSA, Ala. — College basketball teams on the bubble for the NCAA Tournament pose a huge challenge.

Mississippi State showed that in Coleman Coliseum on Wednesday night, taking No. 2 Alabama to the wire in a 66-63 victory for the Crimson Tide.

Now, Alabama (18-2, 8-0 SEC) gets a break from conference play — but not a break from a tough opponent.

The Crimson Tide will play the Oklahoma Sooners in Norman for the SEC / Big 12 Challenge on Saturday afternoon.

Like the Bulldogs, the Sooners (11-9, 2-6 Big 12) have struggled to stack wins thus far in the loaded Big 12. Oklahoma has lost three contests in a row, including a 27-point road loss to No. 11 TCU on Tuesday night.

"Mississippi State's record wasn't great, but they're a good team," head coach Nate Oats said. "They're a lot better than their record showed. […] I think Oklahoma is the same way."

The Sooners will be heavily motivated to avoid getting pushed around by another top team — and this time on their home floor.

"We know that they're hungry for a win," head coach Nate Oats said. "They need quality wins. We're hungry for a win too, though. We're playing for a No. 1 seed. This isn't a game that you can go on the road and not take care of business. We're playing for something too. We've got both teams playing for different things. We're both going to be motivated. We're No. 2 in the country right now — teams are going to bring their A-game against us. We just saw it Wednesday night [against Mississippi State]."

Oklahoma's record could be a lot better. The Sooners lost their season opener to Sam Houston by one point, Villanova by four points, No. 10 Texas by one point, No. 12 Iowa State by three points, No. 9 Kansas by four points and No. 17 Baylor by just two.

"They're playing teams really tough," Oats said. "Our guys got to understand this is a team that is more than capable of playing with the best teams in the country. We know that."

This Oklahoma team can hang with anyone in the country. And because it's squarely on the bubble, it is in need of a high-profile win — and a win over Alabama would be just that.

"Every team has been giving us their best shot all year," forward Noah Gurley said. "We learned from Mississippi State that you can't come in slow at all because that can almost cost you."

"We'll be ready," guard Nimari Burnett said.

The Crimson Tide and Sooners are set to face off in the SEC / Big 12 Challenge on Saturday afternoon. Tipoff from the Lloyd Noble Center is set for 1 p.m. CT on ESPN.

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