Alabama basketball is on primetime Saturday night.

The Crimson Tide (6-3) is visiting No. 8 Creighton (8-2) as the second game in a daunting three-game road swing, its toughest of the season. While Nate Oats and co. saw improvement in its prior loss to Purdue, it will need a better defensive showing against one of the best offenses in the country. The Bluejays enter CHI Health Center Omaha averaging 84.5 points per game.

Tipoff is set for 7:10 p.m. CT on FOX, follow along for live updates as AL.com watches along.

1st Half

–17:36 left, Creighton leads 8-1: Alabama’s first point came off a Wague free throw 90 seconds in. On the other end, Creighton has attempted two 3-pointers, sinking both.

–Jarin Stevenson and Griffen are the first players off the bench for UA. They entered for Nelson and Wrightsell.

–At the under-16 media timeout, Creighton leads 10-3. Alabama has committed four fouls and has made one of its first seven shots, a layup by Sears.

–Alabama trails 14-12 with 12:35 remaining: UA’s positional versatility played a factor with Stevenson, a forward, making the team’s first 3-pointer of the night. Kalkbrenner, Creighton’s 7-foot-1 center, went down with an ankle injury and left the court.

–Estrada tied the game at 14 apiece with a drive-by layup as Kalkbrenner remained in the locker room. The Bluejays haven’t scored in 2:41.

–With 7:39 remaining, Creighton leads 25-23. Nick Pringle has seven points with a trio of alley-oop finishes and one free throw. Both teams have had consistent dribble-drive penetration, with UA taking advantage for 18 points in the paint.

Pregame

Starting lineups: Alabama’s Mark Sears, Latrell Wrightsell, Aaron Estrada, Grant Nelson, and Mohamed Wague against Creighton’s Steven Ashworth, Trey Alexander, Baylor Scheierman, Mason Miller and Ryan Kalkbrenner.

–Transfer guard Wrightsell will make his first start of the year. Wrightsell is from Omaha and is averaging 6.3 points per game. He’ll be replacing Rylan Griffen.

Nick Alvarez is a reporter for Alabama Media Group. Follow him on Twitter @nick_a_alvarez or email him at [email protected].