Alabama basketball will wrap up the gauntlet portion of its non-conference schedule with a matchup against Creighton on Saturday. The Crimson Tide and Bluejays will face off for a second time in as many seasons. Creighton came up victorious in an 85-82 thriller last year after an unfriendly roll prevented Mark Sears from hitting a game-tying 3 from halfcourt at the buzzer.

Alabama (7-2) notched a 94-79 win over North Carolina in its most recent game, following a 2-1 showing at the Players Era tournament. The Tide notched wins over Houston and Rutgers and came up just short in the championship game against Oregon — Alabama’s second-place finish netted the Yea Alabama NIL collective 1.25 million.

Now comes Creighton, Alabama’s last high-major test — the Tide still has non-conference games against North Dakota, Kent State and South Dakota State — before conference play begins. The SEC is shaping up to be the best conference in the country and Alabama still has some kinks to iron out before its first SEC matchup against Oklahoma on Jan. 4.

Welcome to the Triple-Double, a weekly column where I take the pulse of Alabama basketball, looking back at its most recent performances and what to watch for ahead of its next game in the form of two superlatives, two questions and two predictions.

Let’s rock.

The Mo-Grit Award: Mouhamed Dioubate

This is my proposed alternate name for Alabama’s Hart Hat Award. Though Dioubate didn’t win it after the North Carolina game, he’s making a case for it to be named in his honor. The sophomore forward won the Hart Hat after Alabama’s wins over Houston and Rutgers and tallied 39.5 blue-collar points against a physical Cougars team, which Alabama coach Nate Oats deemed to be a program record.