Alabama's first top-10 matchup since 2002 turned into a heavyweight bout.

Similar to its four-overtime victory over previously top-ranked North Carolina in the Phil Knight Invitational, the No. 8 Crimson Tide had to scrap for every possession during its trip to No. 1 Houston on Saturday . Once again, it came down to the final few possessions as Alabama erased a 15-point deficit to squeak out a 71-65 win over the Cougars.

Alabama becomes the first team to knock off two Associated Press No. 1 teams since Oklahoma did it in 1990.

Here are three takeaways from Alabama's win against No. 1 Houston on Saturday.

There will be other big games for Brandon Miller and more moments for the five-star freshman to shine on the biggest stage. However, in his two outings against the nation’s No. 1 team, he's gone missing.

For the first time in his college career, Miller failed to reach double digits, scoring eight points while shooting 0-for-8 from the floor. That comes after a season-worst performance during Alabama’s four-overtime win over previously top-ranked North Carolina where he shot 4 of 21 from the floor while scoring 14 points.

Miller missed his first eight shots Saturday, failing to get on the board until 7:33 in the second half. He finished the game with a -3 plus/minus, recording a season-low five rebounds while turning the ball over two times over 30 minutes.

While Miller never got it going from the floor, he did deliver from the free-throw line, knocking down all six of his attempts during the game's final minute.

Outside of Miller’s two rough showings against top-ranked teams, his debut season has gotten off to a flying start. He entered Saturday’s game averaging a team-high 19.1 points per game, the most by any freshman in the country and No. 42 overall.

"They took Brandon out of what he wanted to do and that's a total credit to them. They take you out of what you want to do," Alabama head coach Nate Oats said. "Brandon showed a lot of character stepping up and making all of those free throws late after we had struggled to make them early."

Alabama's trip to Houston signified a rematch against Marcus Sasser. Last season, Sasser dazzled in Coleman Coliseum leading all-scorers with 25 points. On Saturday, the senior struggled to find his shooting rhythm, scoring just three points while going 0-for-4 from the floor.

The second half was a bit kinder to the American Athletic Conference preseason player of the year, scoring six points to finish the game with nine going 2-for-11 from the floor.

With Sasser's struggles, the Cougars turned to Jamal Shead who tallied a season-high 19 points. It was Shead's third game where he finished with 10 or more points while snagging six rebounds and a block.

The Crimson Tide defense led by Nimari Burnett and company shut down Houston late in the second half as the Cougars scored twice in the final eight minutes of the game.

"That's the No. 1 team in the country too," Oats said. "Now they don't have the No. 1 offense but they are in the top 20 in offensive efficiency. If we can do that against them, we ought to be able to get stops against anybody we're playing."

Alabama's turnover struggles continued against one of the most aggressive defenses in college basketball. Coming into Saturday's matchup, the Cougars ranked No. 26 in the nation in steals, averaging 9.8 per game.

On the other hand, the Crimson Tide has a negative turnover margin, sporting a -4.0 ratio while coughing the ball up 131 times through eight games.

Houston's aggressiveness showed early as it forced Alabama to turn it over 12 times in just the first half. Saturday marked the ninth-consecutive game where the Crimson Tide has crossed the double-digit mark in turnovers. The miscues with the ball allowed Houston to do what it does best — get out in transition.

While the Cougars trailed for most of the first half, they tallied 13 points off of turnovers which not only kept the game close but helped give Houston a four-point lead going into halftime. Alabama cleaned up the turnovers in the second half, coughing it up five times to finish with 15 for the game.

"We tried to emphasize to our guys what we have been telling them at practice," Oats said. "They started backing off when they were trapping their ball screens and we started handling it a little bit better. They trap you hard and they put a lot of pressure on your guards to make the right decision. Some of it is that we just need to take care of the ball, it goes back to high school basketball."