For a second straight time against a top-10 team, Alabama played with a high level of intensity and went blow-for-blow with one of college basketball's elite sides. In its first true road test, the Crimson Tide had Creighton fans sweating for most of the game.

However, Alabama (6-4) was unable to pull out a win over the No. 8 Bluejays (9-2). The Crimson Tide struggled mightily to hit 3s and ran into foul trouble as Creighton's stars took over to avoid back-to-back defeats, knocking off Alabama 85-82.

Here are three takeaways from the Crimson Tide’s loss to the Bluejays:

Alabama started Saturday’s contest going just 1-for-4 from 3-point range. It wouldn't get much better.

Alabama's normally high powered offense was stifled as Creighton ran the Crimson Tide off the 3-point line. The Bluejays prevented Alabama from moving the ball quickly around the arc and creating open shots.

The Crimson Tide’s guards were frequently isolated. When Mark Sears or Aaron Estrada would drive and kick the ball to a teammate beyond the arc, Creighton’s defenders closed out and either contested the shot or prevented it from going up altogether.

That forced Alabama to call an audible. The Crimson Tide turned to its pick-and-roll game and found success penetrating the lane and finished with a dominant 62 points in the paint. Alabama’s pick-and-roll actions turned into lots of lobs for Nick Pringle, who finished with 15 points and seven rebounds.

"We tried putting Nick in different spots to get him slashing," Oats said. "We were able to get him on some of those lobs. He's got to do a better job at the free throw line but I liked his energy. I thought he played hard. We need him to be good for us."

The Crimson Tide also benefited from Creighton’s star center Ryan Kalkbrenner missing most of the first half with an ankle injury. With the Bluejays ratcheting up the pressure on the outside Alabama attempted to punish Kalkbrenner’s replacements in the lane. Sears attempted just five 3s and made only one, but stayed hungry and drove to the lane to finish with 19 points and added four rebounds.

Alabama's offense isn't built to rely this much in the paint, but it's forwards showed flashes of being able to dominate in the lane and on the offensive glass and keep the Crimson Tide in games when its shots aren't falling.

Coming into Saturday’s contest, Creighton averaged just 9.3 fouls per game, which was No. 1 in the nation.

The Bluejays had nine fouls by halftime as Alabama’s relentless pursuit of paint points forced Creighton into fouling more than usual.

Alabama wasn't able to take advantage of the Blue Jays at the line, however. The Crimson Tide shot just 8-for-13 from the charity stripe, unable to substitute missed 3s for free points.

On defense, Alabama's foul trouble cost the Crimson Tide a chance at an upset for a second straight game. Five players finished with at least three fouls while two of Alabama's forwards, Pringle and Mohammed Wague fouled out.

"Our bigs have to figure out how to guard without fouling," Oats said. "Both Nick and Mo foul out in not that many minutes. They combined for 30 minutes and 10 fouls tonight, it was something similar against Purdue last game. They got to do a better job guarding without fouling. We've got to a better job of not putting them in a position where they need to foul."

Pringle picked up his fourth foul with 9:55 remaining which gave Creighton's offense some breathing room in the paint. Wague was even more wasteful, racking up all five of his fouls in just seven minutes on the court.

The Crimson Tide's foul trouble gave the Bluejays ample opportunities at the line, which it took full advantage of. Creighton made 21 of its 29 free throw attempts to keep itself ahead.

"[Alabama's] running through their frontline guys just beating the heck out of you and if you get fouls, you get fouls, [it's] next man in and they just keep beating you up," Creighton coach Greg McDermott said. "But that free throw differential is the game and then some. It made up for a lot of other things that we could have done better."

When Kalkbrenner returned for the Bluejays to start the second half, he became the spark to help Creighton stave off an Alabama upset.

Kalkbrenner finished with 19 points, eight rebounds and three blocks in just 24 minutes of action. His presence opened up Creighton’s offense, which was cold from beyond the arc for most of the game. Alabama's defense bacme too lackadaisical with its backups in and was forced to be less aggressive with Wague and Pringle in foul trouble.

As Kalkbrenner allowed Creighton's offense to open up, the Bluejays hit big shots when it mattered. Trey Alexander only attempted one 3 but found his spots inside the arc to finish with 22 points, while Baylor Scheierman added 20, which included eight free throws. The two guards picked Alabama as the Crimson Tide spent up its energy attempting to stifle Kalkbrenner.

Alabama played a strong game in the paint offensively, but still lack the communication and discipline to contain elite forwards. That only makes life more difficult for Alabama when it faces teams with guards that can take advantage of a forward drawing so much attention.