Preview: No. 13 Alabama Basketball Against Texas

No. 13 Alabama will play its 16th game of the regular season, and the third of SEC play, on Saturday, Jan. 10, at home against Texas.

The Longhorns look a bit different than the last time that the Crimson Tide played them, as Texas fired head coach Rodney Terry at the end of 2024-25 season. In his place is Sean Miller, who spent the last three years at Xavier.

Texas returned six players from last year's team, while the Crimson Tide brought back five. However, both schools lost each of their top-2 players in points per game — Mark Sears plus Grant Nelson for Alabama and Tre Johnson plus Arthur Kaluma for the Longhorns.

Crimson Tide head coach Nate Oats and company fell to No. 11 Vanderbilt on the road on Wednesday night, but can Alabama rebound with a home victory over Texas?

"We're going to have to play a lot better to beat [Vanderbilt], we won't get these guys until the SEC Tournament," Oats said after the game. "We're going to play a lot better than we did tonight to beat a lot of teams in our league. So we've got to get back, regroup, get some guys healthy, put the Texas scout in, and then we're going to have to give a lot better effort on Saturday."

How to Watch: Alabama vs. Texas

Who: Texas (9-6, 0-2 SEC) at No. 13 Alabama (11-4, 1-1 SEC)

What: Alabama's third game of SEC Play (second on the road)

When: Saturday, Jan. 10, 7 p.m. CT

Where: Coleman Coliseum, Tuscaloosa, Ala.

TV: ESPN

Radio: Crimson Tide Sports Network (Play-By-Play: Chris Stewart, Color: Bryan Passink). The pregame show will begin one hour prior to tipoff.

SiriusXM: Channel 190 (Alabama), Channel 384 (Texas)

Series: Texas leads 9-5 with the first matchup occurring on Dec. 30, 1947.

Last Meeting: The Crimson Tide dominated Texas 103-80 on the road on Feb. 11, 2025. The win marked the seventh time Alabama has scored 100 points or more in a game last season. Led by a season-high 24-point performance from Jarin Stevenson, Alabama had its best three-point shooting night of the year, with 17 made threes from seven different players. Mark Sears (18 points), Aden Holloway (18), Labaron Philon (15) and Mouhamed Dioubate (13) joined Stevenson as the leaders of the elite outing from deep.

Last time out, Alabama: The Crimson Tide suffered its first SEC loss on Jan. 7 after falling to No. 11 Vanderbilt 96-90 on the road. Preseason All-SEC guard Labaron Philon Jr. was taken out early in the second half and never returned due to "full-body cramps." Alabama put together a solid comeback effort, as freshman forward Amari Allen (career-high 25 points) and guard Aden Holloway (22) kept their team in it. Allen also collected team highs in rebounds (11) and assists (4). However, it wasn't enough due to Vanderbilt guards Tyler Tanner (29 points) and Duke Miles (19) combining for 48 points.

Last time out, Texas: The Longhorns fell to No. 21 Tennessee 85-71 on the road on Jan. 6. Texas' Tramon Mark (20 points) and Camden Heide (16) combined for 36 points, but overall, the Longhorns shot 39 percent from the field. Volunteers guard Ja'Kobi Gillespie wrangled Texas with 34 points. Dailyn Swain, who leads Texas in numerous categories this season, scored just five points with three rebounds, four assists, three steals and seven turnovers.

Alabama Stat Leaders

• Points: Labaron Philon Jr. (21.3 on 53.7 FG%)
• Rebounds: Amari Allen (7.6, including 2.1 offensive)
• Assists: Labaron Philon Jr. (5.1 with 2.7 turnovers)

Texas Stat Leaders

• Points: Dailyn Swain (15.6 on 55.6 FG%)
• Rebounds: Dailyn Swain (7.1, including 1.9 offensive)
• Assists: Dailyn Swain (3.5 with 2.7 turnovers)

• What Nate Oats Thought was 'Selfish' in Alabama's Loss to Vanderbilt
• Everything Nate Oats Said after Alabama's Road Loss at Vanderbilt
• Why Labaron Philon Jr. Exited Early in Second Half of Loss to Vanderbilt
• Live Updates for Alabama Basketball's Top-15 Road Matchup Against Vanderbilt