Alabama basketball players left the icy Great Plains with a chill in their bones after nearly being frozen to death by a fearless North Dakota team in their final game. Crimson Tide forward Grant Nelson shined in his return to his home state, helping Alabama avoid a major upset with a 97-90 win.

The Tide only has two non-conference games remaining, both at the much warmer Coleman Coliseum. In the penultimate game before the SEC, Alabama will face MAC club Kent State. The Tide and Golden Flashes have only met twice, with Alabama winning the first meeting in 1984, while Kent State defeated the Tide in the second round of the NCAA Tournament in 2022.

Alabama coach Nate Oats has made it clear that his team still has plenty of room for growth in its final two non-conference games. As the SEC continues to emerge as the best conference in college basketball, two positive performances heading into the new year will be paramount to strong play from the Tide’s starting conference. There is an opportunity to build some of that momentum and put the North Dakota game in the spotlight when they face a solid Golden Flashes team.

Here’s everything you need to know about Sunday’s game.

WHO: No. 6 Alabama (9-2) vs. Kent State (8-2)

When: Noon CT, Sunday, December 22nd

Where: Coleman Coliseum, Tuscaloosa, Alabama

Regard: SEC Network (Play-by-Play: Mike Morgan, Analyst: Mark Wise)

Hear: Crimson Tide Sports Network | SIRIUS/XM 134/201 (Play-by-Play: Chris Stewart, Analyst: Bryan Passink, Supporting Actor: Roger Hoover

Mark Sears: 6-foot-1, 190 pounds, graduate

Stats: 18.0 ppg, 3.4 rpg, 4.1 apg, 40.1% FG, 32.9 3-pt

Labaron Philon: 6-foot-4, 177 pounds, freshman

Stats: 11.9 ppg, 3.9 rpg, 3.6 apg, 54.2% FG, 27.6% 3-pt

Jarin Stevenson: 1.95 meters tall, 100 kilograms, sophomore

Stats: 4.6 ppg, 3.5 rpg, 0.9 apg, 37.2% FG, 24.2% 3-point

Grant Nelson: 1.90 meters tall, weighs 110 kilograms, graduate

Stats: 13.2 ppg, 8.2 rpg, 1.9 apg, 53.2% FG, 24.2 3-pt

Clifford Omoruyi: 6-foot-1, 250 pounds, graduate

Stats: 7.5 ppg, 5.8 rpg, 0.8 apg, 71.4% FG

Cian Medley: 5-foot-10, 165 pounds, sophomore

Stats: 5.1 ppg, 1.7 rpg, 3.4 apg, 29.1% FG, 24.2% 3-pt

Mike Bekelja: 6-foot, 184 pounds, graduate

Stats: 1.7 ppg, 1.5 rpg, 0.1 apg, 29.4% FG, 29.4% 3-pt

Marquis Barnett: 6-foot-4, 195 pounds, senior

Stats: 6.7 ppg, 3.0 rpg, 1.0 apg, 34.4% FG, 21.9% 3-pt

FromCameron Davis: 1.85 meters tall, 110 kilograms, redshirt senior

Stats: 14.9 ppg, 3.3 rpg, 1.7 apg, 44.6% FG, 38.7% 3-pt

Cli’Ron Hornbeak: 1.80 meters tall, weighs 110 kilograms, senior

Stats: 8.3 ppg, 6.7 rpg, 0.4 apg, 56.3% FG

Things were ugly at times in Grand Forks, North Dakota. Although Nelson seemed comfortable in familiar surroundings, Alabama lacked discipline on both sides of the ball during portions of the game. The Tide turned the ball over in the first half and gave up runs on defense after finding a groove on offense in the second half.

Oats hopes his team can work out the kinks on Sunday, but he sees the glass half full when it comes to how the team avoided disaster on the road. Alabama chose to play a game in a unique setting, and while the Betty Engelstad Sioux Center isn’t one of the meccas of college basketball, it was undoubtedly hostile and Oats said his team had a lot to gain from the trip.

“It was one of those games where you could have easily gotten out,” Oats told reporters on Friday. “I mean, with two minutes left, I think our guys showed character and grit to make the plays they needed to on both ends of the floor. We had some difficult tasks. It wasn’t the last two minutes, but they drew us twice. I think the first time it was with four or five minutes left, Houston gets a putback on the o-board to put us back in front and then it gets tied again and we were able to get a couple of tough ones Converting shots, getting some stops and making some free throws.”

Alabama has played three true road games so far this season, beating North Carolina at the Dean Smith Center and losing to Purdue at Mackey Arena. Its stunning win against the Tar Heels was a strong indicator that Alabama could hold its own in a hostile opposing environment, but the Tide couldn’t contain itself in a closer road game against the Boilermakers.

Alabama needs to do far better in SEC play, and North Dakota’s record this season doesn’t help make the final result any easier to digest. However, Oats felt his team gained much-needed experience to finish off a hard-fought away game.

“Purdue has a little more talent than North Dakota, but I don’t think we handled the end of the game because the crowd was on the move and there the whole time,” Oats said. “So this is the second time we’ve had it and I thought we handled it a lot better, but the next time we’re on the road it’s going to be an SEC game and it’s going to be a lot better and it will be “There’s a lot more at stake.” So we have to do a lot better.”

Oats has continued to tinker with his rotations, committing to playing all 11 of Alabama’s scholarship players this season. Oats has found a consistent four-man lineup with Sears, Philon, Nelson and Omoruyi and is still looking for Alabama’s consistent fifth starter.

However, Philon was not in the starting lineup against North Dakota, and Oats started both Jarin Stevenson and Derrion Reid against the Fighting Hawks. Although Philon still came off the bench and made an impact, not putting him in the starting lineup was a surprising move, and Oats confirmed it wasn’t tactical as he continues to figure out Alabama’s rotation.

“It wasn’t a basketball decision,” Oats said. “It was an out-of-court, petty deal. He just needs to clean up a few things. There is no basketball, X’s and O’s decision.”

Philon came off the bench for Alabama on Wednesday and shone again on the road with 16 points, two rebounds, two assists and two steals. Oats made it clear that the off-field issue was not a major concern and Philon will likely return to the starting lineup against the Golden Flashes.

While Alabama has some positives to take from the game against North Dakota, it will need to play much better to avoid being upset by a strong mid-major opponent in Kent State. The Golden Flashes have reached the MAC Tournament finals each of the last three seasons and have not fallen below .500 since coaching Rob Senderoff took over the position in 2011. Oats knows the longtime Kent State coach from Oats’ time in the MAC in Buffalo.

“In my four years as head coach at Buffalo, the one year we didn’t go to the NCAA Tournament because Kent State beat us in the MAC and they went to the NCAA Tournament that year. The MVP of the tournament was one of my kids who played with me at Romulus (Michigan High School). Jaylin Walker. So I have a long history with Coach Senderoff. I think he’s a really good coach and does a great job.”

This season, the Golden Flashes are focusing on defense. According to KenPom.com, they rank 117th overall and 62nd in adjusted defensive efficiency. Kent State is also No. 11 in points allowed per game, averaging 60.2 against its opponents. The Golden Flashes also force 13 opponent turnovers per game, slightly more than Alabama’s 12.8 giveaways.

“They’re super aggressive,” Oats said. “They’re turning people over, which will be a problem because we had a problem with turnovers, especially in the first half of the last game. “They play super physical. You put a lot of pressure on your guards. They blitz the ball quite often and play extremely hard, tough, physical and aggressive. So we have to deal with the physicality and be able to not turn the ball over. Those will be the big points.”

Alabama should be in a better position to take care of business on Saturday. Even if the named opponent doesn’t stand out, a strong offensive performance while minimizing turnovers will be important for Oats and Co. given Kent State’s defensive abilities. The game could also be beneficial to Alabama’s NCAA Tournament resume should Kent State continue to dominate the MAC.

“We like playing against quality teams,” Oats said. “This has a chance of being decent – ​​which ends up being a quad two, quad three game. I think there is a chance it will be a good game for us and if we don’t play well they are definitely capable of beating us. They’ve done this a lot since Rob’s been there and these guys expect to play well against us.”

Alabama is looking to win 10 games outside of its conference schedule for the second time under head coach Nate Oats and the first time since the 2022-23 season

This will be the first team Alabama faces in the MAC Conference during Oats’ tenure after spending six seasons in the conference in Buffalo

In Alabama’s last six games, Mark Sears averaged 21.5 points, 3.5 rebounds and 4.8 assists per game

Alabama faced eight opponents, including six ranked in the top 50, currently ranked in KenPom’s top 100 and the most in the country (Purdue).

The Crimson Tide’s three AP Top 25 wins represent the most wins in non-conference play under head coach Nate Oats, matching the 2022-23 season

Alabama is one of five Southeastern Conference teams ranked in the Associated Press top 10. This is the first time the SEC has had five teams ranked in the top 10 in the AP Poll

Alabama is looking to win four straight AP Top 25 matchups (five wins in a row) for the first time since the 2017-18 season.

Coach Oats has earned 21 AP Top 25 wins during his tenure at UA, which ranks third all-time in program history behind Mark Gottfried (22 wins) and Wimp Sanderson (25 wins).

Alabama has scored 100 points or more in 91 games in program history, with Coach Oats’ teams accounting for 25 percent of that number (23 games).

Coach Oats’ 117 wins in his first five seasons at Alabama are the most wins in a five-year period in program history

Mark Sears is one of two active players (Hunter Dickinson of Kansas) to have scored 20 or more points in at least seven career games against an AP top-10 opponent

Mouhamed Dioubate is the only player in the country this year to record 16 rebounds and three blocks against an AP Top 10 opponent (#6 Houston) this season.