How to watch: No. 8 Alabama basketball travels to No. 1 Houston

TUSCALOOSA, Ala. — After knocking off previously top-ranked North Carolina two weeks ago, No. 8 Alabama basketball has a chance to make history this weekend as it travels to take on No. 1 Houston. A win would see the Crimson Tide become just the second team to knock off two teams ranked No. 1 in the Associated Press poll The other time occurred in 1990 when Oklahoma beat Missouri and Kansas over a three-day span.

“This is gonna be one of the best teams we play all year,” Alabama head coach Nate Oats said. “This is the second time we’ve played a No. 1 team. Not to discredit North Carolina, but they weren’t in any of the analytic sites. They were No. 1 in the poll, but none of the computers had Carolina No. 1. If you look at all the analytic sites, I think every single one of them has Houston No. 1. They’re No. 1 in both polls. They’re pretty much a consensus No. 1 team because they play so hard.”

Here’s everything you need to know about the matchup.

Who: No. 8 Alabama (7-1) vs. No. 1 Houston (9-0)

When: 2 p.m. CT, Saturday, Dec. 10

Where: Fertitta Center, Houston Texas

Watch: ABC (play-by-play: Dan Shulman; analyst: Jay Bilas)

Listen: Crimson Tide Sports Network (play-by-play: Chris Stewart; analyst: Bryan Passink; engineer Tom Stipe)

Mark Sears: 6-foot-1, 185 pounds, junior

Stats: 14.9 ppg, 4.8 rpg, 3.5 apg, 43.2% FG, 44.0% 3-pt

Nimari Burnett: 6-foot-4, 190 pounds, sophomore

Stats: 7.9 ppg, 2.5 rpg, 0.9 apg, 41.5% FG, 32.0% 3-pt

Brandon Miller: 6-foot-9, 200 pounds, freshman

Stats: 19.1 ppg, 8.9 rpg, 1.9 apg, 40.5% FG, 46.6% 3-pt

Noah Clowney: 6-foot-10, 210 pounds, freshman

Stats: 8.6 ppg, 8.0, rpg, 1.1 apg, 45.5% FG, 25.0% 3-pt

Charles Bediako: 7-foot, 225 pounds, freshman

Stats: 5.8 ppg, 7.3, rpg, 0.9 apg, 61.8% FG

Marcus Sasser: 6-foot-2, 195 pounds, senior

Stats: 16.9 ppg, 2.8 rpg, 2.9 apg, 42.6% FG, 31.3% 3-pt

Jamal Shead: 6-foot-1, 195 pounds, junior

Stats: 6.7 ppg, 3.1 rpg, 6.2 apg, 33.3% FG, 34.5% 3-pt

Tramon Mark: 6-foot-5, 195 pounds, redshirt sophomore

Stats: 10.1 ppg, 4.0 rpg, 1.7 apg, 41.8% FG, 33.3% 3-pt

J’Wan Roberts: 6-foot-7, 230 pounds, redshirt junior

Stats: 9.9 ppg, 6.9 rpg, 1.2 apg, 69.5% FG

Jarace Walker: 6-foot-8, 240 pounds, freshman

Stats: 9.6 ppg, 6.9 rpg, 1.4 apg, 46.2% FG, 37.5%3-pt

Alabama has already been tested outside of Coleman Coliseum, winning two out of three games against ranked opposition during the Phil Knight Invitational in Portland, Ore., two weeks ago. However, Saturday will mark the first time the Crimson Tide will take on a ranked team inside its own gym.

Handling the nation’s top-ranked team in front of 7,000 opposing fans inside a packed Fertitta Center will be no small feat, especially against a Houston team that has won 47 of its last 48 home games. Still, Oats believes his team is up for the challenge.

“The environment’s gonna be unbelievable,” Oats said. “I’m looking forward to it. This is why you play the game of basketball. I don’t think you play it to play in an empty gym without any kind of intensity or any of that. You do all your early-morning workouts, all your extra time in the weight room to get to be involved in a game like this. If I’m a player, I’m super excited for this.”

Alabama is playing in its first AP top-10 matchup since 2002 when the then-No. 8 ranked Crimson Tide beat defeated then-No. 3 Oklahoma in the Coaches vs. Cancer Classic at New York’s Madison Square Garden. Interestingly enough current Houston head coach Kalvin Sampson was the Sooners’ head coach at the time. Alabama is 4-7 against AP No. 1 teams.

“I’d say we’re very excited, just first and foremost to play another game,” forward Noah Gurley said. “They’re the No. 1 team, so that adds a little more to it. But we’ve still gotta play every game the same way, approach every game the same way.”

Alabama will be up against one of the nation’s top guards in Houston’s Marcus Sasser. The senior leads the Cougars averaging 16.9 points per game and scored a game-high 25 points in Houston’s 83-82 loss at Alabama last year.

“He’s their spark, their leader offensively and one of their returning players from last year,” Gurley said. “We got to make sure he’s seeing bodies,” Gurley said. “We can’t give him catch-and-shoot 3s, let him do what he wants to do. He’s a really elite jump shooter, so the whole team has to be locked in on him.”

Sasser is shooting 42.6% from the floor and 31.3% from beyond the arc this season. The 6-foot-2, 195-pound guard is capable of making contested shots but also has the speed to blow past defenders for easy buckets at the rim. During last year’s game against Alabama, he shot 8 of 25 from the floor, including 4 of 14 from deep. Thursday, Oats said he plans to throw multiple defensive looks at the senior, pairing him up against smaller guards while also challenging him with some of Alabama’s lengthy forwards.

“The ability for Sahser to make shots makes you press into him, and thats when you end up giving up blow-bys,” Oats said. “We got to find somebody that can [guard him]. And he’s going to hit tough shots. He’s a high-level scorer. If he’s taking the type of shots we want him to take and they’re highly contested and he makes a few, we keep guarding him the way we are and trust the numbers that he’s not going to make too many to beat you. But if he’s blowing by you all night and you’re giving up O-boards all night, now you’re going to have a problem.”

Alabama will likely still be without St. Bonaventure transfer Dom Welch this weekend as the graduate guard is still limited with a calf injury. Welch has yet to make his Crimson Tide debut and hasn’t able to take part in live practice with the team.

"It's kind of a day-by-day deal,” Oats said. “We're getting him more and more not live stuff to see how he handles it. We were off yesterday and we'll see how he handles it today."

Welch started 33 games for St. Bonaventure last season, averaging 12.3 points, 6 rebounds, 1.6 assists and 1.3 steals. The 6-foot-5, 205-pound guard was a consistent 3-point threat, shooting 37.4% from beyond the arc.

— Alabama has won four straight games when playing a team who played in the previous year’s Final Four (3-0 last year, 1-0 this year). Houston made the Final Four last season before losing, 50-44, to Villanova.

— Brandon Miller is averaging 19.1 points per game, the most by any freshman in the country and No. 42 overall. He is the only freshman in the nation to rank in the top 50 in points per game (No. 42) and rebounds per game (No. 50). Miller is averaging 3.38 three-pointers per game, which ranks No. 17 nationally.

— Alabama is the only school in Division I to have two freshmen rank in the top 90 in rebounds per game, as Miller ranks No. 50 (8.9 rpg) and Noah Clowney ranks No. 86 (8.0 rpg).

— Houston extended its school record with its 50th consecutive week ranked among the AP Top 25. The previous mark was 35 straight weeks in the poll from 1967 to 1969.

— Since 2017-18, Houston ranks as the nation’s second-winningest team with a 152- 30 record. Only Gonzaga with a 160-19 record stands higher.