Is No. 2 Alabama basketball ready for non-conference battle?

TUSCALOOSA, Ala. – UNC Asheville had no chance and Arkansas State didn't have enough firepower to take advantage of a poor night in Alabama basketball. It was a similar story Monday night, as the No. 2 Crimson Tide survived a cold spell in the second half to prevail over an overmatched McNeese State team, 72-64.

It was assumed that Alabama would get off to a 3-0 start to the season with arguably the deepest roster in the country. The first part of the Tide's non-conference slate was more of a tune-up than a test.

That won't be the case Friday when Alabama (3-0) travels to West Lafayette, Indiana, to face No. 13 Purdue (3-0). Even without two-time Naismith College Player of the Year Award winner Zach Edey, the Boilermakers appear to be a team that should contend for a return trip to the Final Four. And Purdue will be just the beginning of a string of games for Alabama next month.

After Friday's game, the Tide will face Illinois on Nov. 20 in Birmingham before flying to Las Vegas for the Players Era Festival, where they will face No. 8 Houston before facing No. 24 Rutgers and a No. 12 seed Texas A&M competes. No. 15 Creighton and San Diego State or Oregon.

Next up is a trip to No. 10 North Carolina on Dec. 4, followed by a home game against Creighton on Dec. 10. All in all, that could come down to six ranked games in seven games for Alabama.

So are Nate Oats' squad about to be tested? The head coach has liked what he's seen at times, but he's still looking for more consistency.

“Our upside potential is high, as we all knew,” Oats said. “We also learned that if we don’t play with a competitive edge, we’re not special. We have to have a competitive advantage, the ball has to move. We have to play the way we have to and we will be good.”

Arkansas State and McNeese State may not have been able to pull off an upset in Alabama, but the two middle powers exposed some of the Tide's vulnerabilities.

With seven minutes left, Arkansas State was tied with Alabama, while McNeese State had just two possessions left with 4:21 left. After Monday night's win, Oats listed some of the deficiencies his team will focus on moving forward.

“Our defensive rebounding is a problem,” Oat said. “Our fluctuations are a big problem. We had 15 of them tonight, so that's a problem. I thought we could do that much better if we attacked and switched defenses, but we didn't do that. We have to go through this. Letting the press slow us down was a problem. They presented us on several levels that we can now work on before the league game.”

Oats' philosophy has always been to challenge his team as much as possible before entering the conference schedule. The upcoming games will certainly do this, revealing even more areas to tinker with.

“Every game we learn something about ourselves,” graduate Mark Sears said. “It's good to learn something about ourselves when we win so we can apply it to the next game. I feel like we're going to take this movie that comes next and just apply it until we get caught in that gauntlet.”

Alabama and Purdue will face off at Mackey Arena on Friday at 6:00 p.m. CT. The two teams faced off in Toronto last year when Purdue earned a 92-86 win. Alabama and Purdue both have Final Four runs and are expected to win their respective conferences this season.

“That’s why we play these games,” Oats said of the challenge of traveling to Purdue. “That’s why the boys work. That's how we like to do it. We enjoy playing against some of the best teams in the country, as evidenced by the next seven games with those we play against. I want to see where we stand compared to the best in the country and that will be a good test for us on Friday.”