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

The Tide has just two non-conference games remaining, both in the much warmer confines of Coleman Coliseum. In its penultimate game before SEC play, Alabama will face MAC side Kent State. The Tide and Golden Flashes have met just twice all-time with Alabama winning the first meeting in 1984, while Kent State knocked off the Tide in the second round of the NCAA Tournament in 2022.

Alabama coach Nate Oats has made it clear his team still has plenty of room for growth during its final two out-of-conference games. With the SEC continuing to separate itself as the best conference in college basketball, two positive performances before the new year will be paramount to the Tide starting conference play strong. It has the opportunity to build some of that momentum and put the North Dakota game in the review when it faces a sound Golden Flashes side.

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, Dec. 22

Where: Coleman Coliseum, Tuscaloosa, Alabama

Watch: SEC Network (Play-By-Play: Mike Morgan, Analyst: Mark Wise)

Listen: Crimson Tide Sports Network | SIRIUS/XM 134/201 (play-by-play: Chris Stewart, analyst: Bryan Passink, sideline: 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: 6-foot-11, 215 pounds, sophomore

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

Grant Nelson: 6-foot-11, 230 pounds, graduate

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

Clifford Omoruyi: 6-foot-11, 250 pounds, graduate

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

Cian Medley: 5-foot-11, 165 pounds, sophomore

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

Mike Bekelja: 6-feet, 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

VonCameron Davis: 6-foot-5, 229 pounds, redshirt senior

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

Cli'Ron Hornbeak: 6-foot-9, 238 pounds, senior

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

It was ugly at times in Grand Forks, North Dakota. Though Nelson looked comfortable in a familiar environment, 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 surrendered runs defensively after finding a groove on offense in the second half.

Oats is looking for his side to remedy the inconsistencies on Sunday but chose to see the glass half full when assessing how the team avoided disaster on the road. Alabama chose to play a game in a unique environment and while the Betty Engelstad Sioux Center isn’t one of college basketball’s Mecca’s, it was undoubtedly hostile and Oats said his team can gain a lot from making the trip.

“It was one of those games where you easily could have folded,” Oats told reporters Friday. “I mean, it’s tied up with two minutes to go and I think our guys showed some character and some grit to be able to make the plays they needed to make on both ends of the floor. We had some tough buckets. It wasn’t the last two minutes but they tied us twice, I think the first time was about four or five minutes to go in the game, Houston gets an O-board putback to put us back up and then they tie it again and we were able to convert a couple tough buckets, get some stops, make some free throws.”

Alabama has played three true road games so far this season, defeating North Carolina inside the Dean Smith Center and losing to Purdue at Mackey Arena. Its blowout win against the Tar Heels was a strong indicator that Alabama could show up in a hostile opposing environment, but the Tide failed to compose themselves in a closer road game against the Boilermakers.

Alabama will have to be far better on the road during games in SEC play and North Dakota’s resumé this season doesn’t help make the final score any more digestible. However, Oats felt his team got some much-needed experience learning to close a tightly-contested game on the road.

“Purdue’s got a little bit more talent than North Dakota, but I didn’t think we handled the end of the game, the crowd being on the road, all that while there,” Oats said. “So this is the second time we had it and I thought we handled it a lot better, but the next time we’re on the road it’s gonna be an SEC game and it's gonna be a lot better and there’s gonna be a lot more at stake. So we gotta continue to get a lot better.”

Oats has continued to tinker with his rotations and has committed to using 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 in search of Alabama's consistent fifth starter.

However, Philon was left out of the starting lineup against North Dakota, with Oats starting both Jarin Stevenson and Derrion Reid against the Fighting Hawks. Though Philon still came off the bench and made an impact, leaving him out of the starting five was a surprising move, and one Oats affirmed was not tactical as he continues to figure out Alabama’s rotation.

“That wasn’t a basketball decision,” Oats said. “That was an off-the-court, minor deal. He’s just got to clean some stuff up. There’s no basketball, X and O decision on that one.”

Philon still came off the bench for Alabama on Wednesday and once again shined on the road with 16 points, two rebounds, two assists and two steals. Oats made it clear that the off-the-court issue wasn’t major and Philon is likely to return to the starting five against the Golden Flashes.

While Alabama can take some positives from the North Dakota game, it will have to play a lot better to avoid being upset by a strong mid-major foe in Kent State. The Golden Flashes have reached the final of the MAC tournament in each of the last three seasons and haven’t dipped below .500 since coach Rob Senderoff took over in 2011. Oats has familiarity with the long-tenured Kent State coach from Oats' time in the MAC at Buffalo.

“My four years as the head coach at Buffalo, the one year we didn’t go to the NCAA Tournament it was because Kent State beat us in the MAC and they went to the NCAA Tournament that year. Tournament MVP was one of my kids that played with my at Romulus [High School in Michigan], Jaylin Walker. So I’ve got a lot of history with Coach Senderoff. I think he’s a really good coach and does a great job.”

This season, the Golden Flashes are built on defense. They rank No. 117 overall and No. 62 in adjusted defensive efficiency according to KenPom.com. Kent State is also No. 11 in points allowed per game giving up an average of 60.2 to its opponents. The Golden Flashes also force 13 opponent turnovers per game, slightly above Alabama’s ​​12.8 giveaways.

“They're super aggressive," Oats said. "They turn people over, which is gonna be a problem because we've had an issue with turnovers, particularly in the first half of that last game. They play super physical. They put a lot of pressure on your guards. They blitz ball screens a decent amount, and they do it by playing super hard, tough, physical, aggressive. So, we're going to have to handle the physicality of it and we're going to have to be able to not turn the ball over. Those are going to be the big points.”

Alabama should be in a better position to take care of business Saturday. Though the opponent in name doesn’t pop off the page, a strong offensive performance while minimizing turnovers will be meaningful for Oats and company given Kent State’s ability on the defensive end. The game could also be good for Alabama’s NCAA Tournament resumé should Kent State continue to dominate the MAC.

“We like to play quality teams,” Oats said. “This has a chance to be decent — what ends up being a quad two, quad three game. I think it's got a chance to be a good game for us and it’s a game where if we don't play well, they're certainly capable of beating us. They've done it plenty of times since Rob’s been there and these guys expect to play well against us.”

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

This will be the first team Alabama plays from the MAC Conference during Oats' tenure after spending six seasons in the conference at Buffalo

In Alabama's last six games Mark Sears is averaging 21.5 points, 3.5 rebounds and 4.8 assists per game

Alabama has faced eight opponents, including six inside the top-50, that are currently ranked inside KenPom's top-100, tied for the most in the country (Purdue)

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

Alabama is one five teams from the Southeastern Conference that is ranked in the Associated Press Top-10, which 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 for the first time since the 2017-18 season (won five straight)

Coach Oats has 21 AP Top-25 wins during his tenure at UA, which ranks third all-time in the program's 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 across his first five seasons at Alabama stands as the most wins in a five-year span in program history

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

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