Alabama
Kentucky
Alabama Men’s Basketball Falls at Kentucky, 81-71
2/17/2018 4:10:00 PM | Men's Basketball
Junior Donta Hall led the Crimson Tide offense with 16 points while adding six rebounds and two blocks
LEXINGTON, Ky. – The Alabama men's basketball team fell to Kentucky, 81-71, in a hard-fought battle Saturday afternoon inside a packed Rupp Arena. The contest was a back-and-forth affair throughout, featuring eight ties and 15 lead changes before the Wildcats ended the game on a 12-4 run to pull away.
Four Alabama players scored in double figures as junior Donta Hall led the charge with 16 points on 7-of-8 shooting from the floor, to go along with six rebounds and two blocks. The other double-digit scorers were all freshmen, as John Petty put up 13 points, Collin Sexton contributed 12 and Alex Reese matched his career high of 10 points off the bench – all coming in the first half.
The difference in the contest was Kentucky's performance on the glass, as it outrebounded the Crimson Tide 44-27 on the day, including a 20-9 edge in offensive rebounds. As a result, the Wildcats earned a 20-11 advantage in second chance points which helped UK pull away in the final few minutes of the game.
"Kentucky played an outstanding game," Alabama head coach Avery Johnson said. "Especially with their offensive rebounding, we knew coming into the game that we had to slow them down and transition and really do a great job on the boards. Unfortunately this wasn't our best night rebounding. They made us pay the price for it. They got great production from their bench, specifically (Jarred) Vanderbilt and PJ (Washington), but again we played some pretty good defense overall, we just couldn't get the rebound.
"We pride ourselves on being a good defensive team, and had we been able to get some more of those rebounds we thought we could got out in transition and hurt them on their transition defense. Give them credit, they played like a really hungry basketball team, lots of energy. We didn't play our best game, but we still have a high, high ceiling, another level to go to on both ends of the floor. We showed flashes of it, and hopefully in the next week or two we'll get there."
Kentucky took the 39-34 lead heading into the locker room in the first half that saw 11 lead changes and four ties, with neither team leading by more than five points. UK shot 45.2 percent from the floor (14-of-31), while the Tide connected on 42.9 percent of its shots (12-of-28) in the first stanza. However, the Wildcats used a 22-14 edge on the glass to harbor the five-point advantage at intermission.
In the second half, the scoring pendulum continued to swing for the majority of the second half until Kentucky began to get into a rhythm, taking the 67-61 lead after a corner three at the 6:30 mark, but the Tide was able to cut its deficit to 67-65, after a jumper by Sexton with 5:12 left to go.
Leading 69-67 with 3:35 left to play, UK forced back-to-back Alabama turnovers in which it converted on the other end of the floor to reel off a 7-2 spurt to take a 74-67 lead with 2:05 left to play. After an Alabama basket, the Wildcats went on to outscore the next six points to seal the win and snap their four-game losing streak.
Alabama shot 47.3 percent from the field (26-of-55) in the contest, while Kentucky shot 43.8 percent shooting from the floor (28-of-64). The Wildcats also held a 39-19 advantage in bench points and an 18-8 edge in points off turnovers.
PJ Washington led the Kentucky's offense with 16 points, while four others contributed double figures in the scoring column.
Up next, Alabama will travel to take on rival No. 10 Auburn on Wednesday night at 7:30 p.m. CT on SEC Network. It will be the second game between the two teams this season. The Crimson Tide defeated the Tigers, 76-71, back on Jan. 17 in the first meeting between the teams this season.
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