No. 6 Alabama keeps guard up for encounter vs. Kent State

Alabama just survived a scare from a mid-major program, and the No. 6 Crimson Tide hope they don't face another one on Sunday afternoon.

Alabama will seek its fourth straight win as it tries to avoid an upset from Kent State at Tuscaloosa, Ala.

The Crimson Tide (9-2) were pushed to the limit before beating host North Dakota 97-90 on Wednesday in forward Grant Nelson's return to his home state.

Nelson had 23 points, 10 rebounds and three blocked shots and scored the tie-breaking basket with 1:47 remaining to drop the Fighting Hawks to 4-9.

Alabama was sweating more than it expected to, and now the Golden Flashes (8-2) want to take their swipe at testing the Crimson Tide.

Alabama coach Nate Oats sees Kent State ranked 11th nationally in scoring defense (60.2 points a game) and is trying to drill into his players that it could be a challenging day.

"They're super aggressive," Oats said Friday. "They turn people over, which is gonna be a problem because we've had an issue with turnovers, particularly in the first half of that last game. They play super physical. They put a lot of pressure on your guards. They blitz ball screens a decent amount, and then they just play super hard, tough, physical and aggressive."

Kent State coach Rob Senderoff certainly would like to notch a big victory for his squad's resume. His club also is looking for its fourth straight win.

"We have a really tough game ahead of us against Alabama, which played in the Final Four last year and is one of the top ... teams in the country again," Senderoff said. "It will be an awesome opportunity for us."

The Golden Flashes were routed 79-56 at then-No. 5 Auburn on Nov. 13. Their other loss was 51-39 against UC Irvine on Nov. 29 in the Western Slam in Lethbridge, Alberta.

"No shame in the losses that we've had. We've beaten some good programs," Senderoff said. "There's a lot of room for improvement, which I think is good because we have a number of guys who haven't played their best yet, so I think there's still room for growth."

Kent State is coming off an 82-57 victory over Mercyhurst on Dec. 15.

VonCameron Davis leads the Golden Flashes with a 14.9 scoring average and needs just seven points to reach 1,000 for his career.

Kent State split two previous meetings with Alabama, with the victory qualifying as one of the biggest in program history.

That win was the second of three straight upsets during the 2002 NCAA Tournament as No. 10 seed Kent State stunningly reached the Elite Eight with future NFL star tight end Antonio Gates leading the charge. The Golden Flashes beat No. 2 seed Alabama 71-58 in the second round and eventually lost to No. 5 seed Indiana with a Final Four berth on the line.

As for Alabama, Mark Sears leads the way with a team-best 18.0 scoring average while Nelson averages 13.2 points and a team-leading 8.2 rebounds.

Third-leading scorer Labaron Philon (11.9) didn't start against North Dakota due to disciplinary measures. It was just the second time the freshman hadn't been in the starting lineup.

"That wasn't a basketball decision," Oats said Friday. "That was an off-the-court, minor deal. He's just got to clean some stuff up. There's no basketball, X and O decision on that one."

--Field Level Media