TUSCALOOSA, Ala. — Alabama basketball was back home Saturday for the first time in over a month. Sporting new throwback jerseys, the Crimson Tide did not disappoint in its long-awaited return to Coleman Coliseum with a strong performance in an 83-75 victory over Creighton.

The Tide entered Saturday looking to avenge a three-point loss to Creighton last season in Omaha, Nebraska. The Tide overcame some shooting errors with discipline in the turnover and rebounding departments. Alabama also showcased its strength with one of its top transfers making his debut and another playing his second game of the season.

Even as Creighton struggled back into the game, Alabama remained stuck on defense, allowing the Jays to earn every basket they got and forcing some critical turnovers to keep the game out of reach for the visitors.

Here are three takeaways from Alabama’s win over Creighton.

Alabama didn’t look like a team that had lost one of its key guards just a few weeks ago. Instead, the Tide showed the depth that makes them one of the toughest teams in the country.

Oats played all of Alabama’s active players in the first eight minutes against Creighton. He wasn’t afraid to be fluid in his rotations and the level rarely dropped no matter who was in the game. Only two Alabama players played less than 10 minutes, helping Oats keep the Tide’s rotations fresh as they weathered their shooting slump late in the first half and held off a late comeback attempt from Creighton.

Wrightsell’s absence will continue to be painful for Alabama, but Saturday provided an opportunity to increase the involvement of one of its key backups. South Florida transfer guard Chris Youngblood also got his first chance of the season after recovering from an ankle injury.

Youngblood finished the game with five points, one rebound, one assist and two steals. With just under 11 minutes left, he scored two points on a layup that ended a shooting drought for the Tide that included three quick turnovers.

Oats has maintained that the Youngblood who debuted Saturday won’t be the same Youngblood when SEC play gets rolling and beyond. The fifth-year guard has only become more important to Alabama with Wrightsell’s injury, and Youngblood’s positive debut is a good sign that he can live up to those expectations.

Alabama appeared to be on a winning streak for most of the first half. The Tide had easy access to the lane offensively, scoring 20 of its 31 first-half points in the game. A well-executed defensive game plan limited Creighton’s counterattacks.

However, Alabama’s comfortable early lead was erased when it made just one of its final 13 shot attempts. Creighton, of course, provided some offense and cut Alabama’s lead to six by the halftime siren.

A drought like this can completely reverse the momentum of a game. But Alabama was able to keep Creighton at bay and survive the cold spell thanks to discipline on the glass when its shot didn’t fall. Alabama outrebounded Creighton 45-34 and grabbed 17 offensive rebounds while the Bluejays grabbed just five.

Mark Sears hit a 3 early in the second half, making it a nine-point game, and Alabama never looked back. Sears led Alabama with 23, and fellow running back Labaron Philon nearly matched his total with 16.

Even when Alabama didn’t hit 3s, it continued to get easy touchdowns against Creighton’s drop coverage. The Bluejays’ bigs would sink to the edge to cut off the pass to the roll man. This allowed Sears, Philon and the rest of Alabama’s guards to take advantage of the floaters they were happy to take and make. The Tide finished with 44 points. Sears made two late free throws to seal the Tide win after Crighton made a late push.

Alabama fared slightly better in the turnover department on Saturday than it did during its difficult non-conference. The Tide came into the game averaging 12.9 giveaways per game and finished the game with 11 against the Jays.

More crucial to the Tide’s victory, however, was their ability to force takeaways on defense. Alabama was able to win the turnover battle, forcing Creighton to cough up the ball 12 times, each time feeling more critical than the last as Alabama turned the takeaways offensively into 14 points.

Even when the shooting performance dipped, Alabama’s defensive efforts never wavered. The Tide’s guards hounded Creightons and the forwards made life similarly difficult for the Jays’ big star, Ryan Kalkbrenner. The fifth-year center finished the game with 18 points and seven rebounds, but Alabama did a good job of preventing easy play on deep catches and allowing Kalkbrenner to really establish dominance on the block.

Early in the game, Oats emphasized that the key to Kalkbrenner’s defense was his ability to double up the post and take the lead while still defending a Creighton team that has burned its opponents by getting too hot from the 3 . That shot burst never materialized for Creighton Saturday, as Alabama controlled the tempo defensively, flying around to block shots and holding Creighton to a lowly 28% from 3 and 1.01 points per possession.

After playing its first home game at Coleman Coliseum for the first time in over a month, Alabama goes right back on the road for a unique road game against North Dakota. The Tide and Fighting Hawks will face off at the Betty Engelstad Sioux Center on Wednesday at 8 p.m. CT. The game will be broadcast on CBS Sports Network.