No. 7 Alabama Basketball Beats Creighton Bluejays in Return To Coleman Coliseum

- The Alabama basketball program welcomed fans back to Coleman Coliseum for the first time in 33 days as they greeted a niche rival in the Creighton Bluejays. The Crimson Tide's defensive efforts carried the team through a first-half shooting slump and saw Alabama claim the program's first win over Creighton 83-75.

Alabama worked its way into a 17-point first half lead, but closed the first frame making just one of its last 15 shots from the floor to end the opening half ahead by just six. The poor shooting continued into the second frame as the Crimson Tide made just two of its first 10 shots from the floor, but strong rebounding and defending kept Alabama in firm control.

Alabama was led offensively by senior Mark Sears who was a bright spot shooting, making four of seven from behind the arc, scoring 27 points to pace the Crimson Tide offense, while also securing six rebounds and four assists.

Freshman Labaron Philon made a big impact by getting to the rim effectively. He scored 16 points and chipped in five rebounds with two assists and two steals.

The night also included the season debut of Alabama guard Chris Youngblood. The Tuscaloosa product was subbed into each half off the bench after dealing with an offseason ankle injury and scored five points with one rebound and two steals.

Creighton hung around throughout the night as Alabama struggled for the second year in guarding forward Ryan Kalkbrenner. The 7-foot-1 centerpiece scored 18 points and had seven rebounds, but he couldn't find enough help to steal a road victory. The Bluejays were actually led offensively by guard Steven Ashworth as he scored 20 points with nine assists.

Despite Kalkbrenner's offensive success, the Crimson Tide fared well on the inside, scoring 44 points in the paint and outrebounding the Bluejays as a team 46-32 and only giving up five offensive rebounds.

Alabama returns to action on Wednesday, Dec. 18 as they'll travel to North Dakota to take on the Fighting Hawks in forward Grant Nelson's backyard at 8 p.m. CT.