Alabama
Kentucky
15-327-5; SEC
Alabama Falls to No. 4 Kentucky in SEC Tournament Quarterfinal, 73-55
3/15/2019 9:57:00 PM | Men's Basketball
Senior forward Donta Hall scores 1,000th career point in the loss
NASHVILLE, Tenn. – The Alabama men's basketball team fell to No. 4 Kentucky 73-55, in the quarterfinal round of the Southeastern Conference Men's Basketball Tournament on Friday evening at Bridgestone Arena.
Senior Donta Hall finished with 14 points and six rebounds, while scoring his 1,000th-career point in the process. In doing so, he became just the fifth Alabama player in program history to record more than 1,000 points (1,008), 800 (838), 200 blocks (226) for his career.
"Congrats to Kentucky; they came out and put an extreme amount of pressure on us defensively," Alabama head coach Avery Johnson said. "We didn't do a great job of getting in our offense. They turned us over, blocked shots and were active. We just weren't efficient on the offensive end. In the second half we showed some life. We cut the lead but we struggled to score and couldn't get enough stops. But our guys fought. It wasn't a lack of effort. Kentucky just did a great job of disrupting us offensively. It was an uphill climb all night."
The Crimson Tide (18-15) was led by sophomore Alex Reese who finished with 15 points and six rebounds off the bench, including knocking down 3-of-6 shots from beyond the arc. Junior Dazon Ingram added nine points and six rebounds, while graduate senior Riley Norris snatched a season-high three steals.
After a back-and-forth start to the game, the Wildcats (27-5) seized momentum early by going on an 11-0 run to take a double-digit lead, 20-9, with 12:51 remaining in the opening stanza. The Crimson Tide was able to slowly whittle the lead to six points, 33-27, but Kentucky outscored Alabama 6-2 over the final 2:24 to take a 39-29 lead into the locker room.
The difference of the first half was the UK defense, as it collected nine blocks and forced eight turnovers over the opening 20 minutes of play.
The Wildcats picked up where they left off and outscored the Tide 6-2 to begin the second half to build its lead to 45-31 just 1:41 after intermission. In all, UK's 12-4 run that spanned halftime lasted a total of 4:05. Alabama would not get any closer than 11 points the rest of the way.
Tyler Herro scored a game-high 20 points, while PJ Washington posted a double-double with 10 points and 12 rebounds.
The Crimson Tide will now await its postseason fate, which will be known on Sunday night.
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