No. 25 Alabama, No. 4 Kentucky Set to Square Off in Top-25 Showdown on CBS

TUSCALOOSA, Ala. – The No. 25 Alabama men's basketball team will travel to Lexington, Ky., to take on No. 4/3 Kentucky Saturday at noon CT (1 p.m. ET) on CBS. The contest will mark the sixth time this season that the Crimson Tide will take on an Associated Press Top-5 opponent.

Exactly two weeks ago, the Crimson Tide dropped a 66-55 decision to then-No. 5 Kentucky in Tuscaloosa on Feb. 5. Alabama had its worst shooting night of the season, connecting on just 28.1 percent (18-of-64) from the field and 10.0 percent (3-of-30) from beyond the arc in the losing effort. A full box score from that contest can be found below.

In its last visit to Rupp Arena, Alabama defeated Kentucky 85-65 which snapped the Tide's eight-game losing streak in the historic venue. It was also the largest win by a UA team in Lexington since winning by 23 points (94-71) on Feb. 23, 1974. Alabama will be looking to accomplish another first in the series this Saturday as the Tide has never won consecutive games in Lexington or Rupp Arena (11-58 playing at Kentucky).

The Broadcast

Saturday's game will be available on CBS with Ian Eagle (play-by-play) and Bill Raftery (analyst) on the call
The radio broadcast can be heard on the Crimson Tide Sports Network with Chris Stewart (play-by-play) and Bryan Passink (analyst) on the call, while Tom Stipe (engineer) is turning the dials. The pregame show will begin one hour prior to tipoff.

Notes You Need To Know

For the first time in five weeks, the Crimson Tide has returned to the Associated Press Top-25 rankings, checking in at No. 25 in this week's poll. Alabama is also the first team out of the Ferris Mowers USA Today Coaches Poll (55 votes, No. 26) according to the most recent national rankings, which were revealed Monday afternoon.

UA ranks No. 15 in the nation in offensive efficiency by Ken Pomeroy (as of 2/17), which would stand as the program's second-most efficient offense over the last 20 years of KenPom.com's end-of-year ranking (finished No. 9 in 2005). Pomeroy also ranks the Tide No. 10 in average possession length, No. 14 in adjusted tempo and No. 66 in defensive efficiency.
According to the other metric rankings, Alabama is ranked in the following (as of 2/17): No. 20 KenPom.com, No. 20 ESPN.com BPI, No. 21 Sagarin and No. 21 in the NCAA NET rankings. The Tide's "Best" NET wins (Quad 1) include: Gonzaga (No. 1), Houston (No. 4), Baylor (No. 6), Tennessee (No. 9), LSU (No. 16), Arkansas (No. 29) and at Florida (No. 54).
The Crimson Tide will face its ninth ranked opponent of the season this Saturday, all of which have been ranked inside the AP Top 15 (5-3 vs. ranked teams). The nine top-15 opponents matches Oklahoma for the most by any team in the nation.
Saturday's game will also mark the sixth time UA has faced a team ranked in the AP Top-5, going 2-3 in those contests. According to College B-Ball Ref (@collegebb_ref), Alabama's six games against AP Top-5 opponents are the most in a regular season since Ohio State played six in 2012-13 (No. 2 Duke, No. 2 Michigan, No. 3 Michigan, No. 1 Indiana, No. 4 Michigan State, No. 2 Indiana).
NET RANKING FACTS: Alabama has a NET Ranking of No. 21 in the nation as of 2/17 which is fifth-best in the SEC... UA is the only team in the nation to have defeated four teams among the NET Top 10 (No. 1 Gonzaga, No. 4 Houston, No. 6 Baylor and No. 9 Tennessee)... Of the five games remaining on the regular-season slate, two are Q1 opponents and two are Q2 ... UA is tied for the third nationally in total number of Quad 1 with seven (only five teams have more)... Alabama is the only team in the nation to have not played a Quad 4 opponent.
The Tide's schedule ranks No. 1 in the nation in every major rating system including: Average Opponent NET Ranking, KenPom.com, ESPN BPI, Sagarin Rankings and RealTimeRPI.
UP NEXT: Alabama will remain on the road as it travels to Nashville, Tenn., where the Crimson Tide will take on the Vanderbilt Commodores on Tuesday night at 8 p.m. CT. That contest, which will be televised on SEC Network, will be the only meeting between the two teams in the regular season.

About Alabama

Alabama is in its 109th season of basketball in 2021-22. The Tide's first season of hoops came in 1912-13. There was no season in 1943-44 due to World War II.
The Crimson Tide is led by three players who average double figures in Jaden Shackelford (17.1 ppg), Jahvon Quinerly (14.2 ppg) and Keon Ellis (11.1 ppg). The trio combines to account for 54 percent (42.4 of the 80.4 points per game average), 68 percent of the three-pointers made (160 of 235), 51 percent field goals made (370 of 731) and 52 percent of the total free throws made (203 of 393).
The Tide's youth has also shined this season. A pair of freshmen in guard JD Davison and center Charles Bediako have both been impressive during their rookie campaign. Davison, a consensus five star and McDonald's All-American, ranks second on the team in assists (4.0 apg) while also ranking among the team leaders at 8.6 points and 4.5 rebounds per contest. Bediako has been a strong inside presence, collecting 6.7 points, 4.3 rebounds and a team-leading 1.7 blocks a game. Meanwhile, sophomore Juwan Gary has also been impressive in his second year at UA, averaging 7.5 points and 3.9 rebounds per game.
As a team, the Crimson Tide is averaging 80.4 points per game while shooting 44.6 percent from the field and 30.8 percent from beyond the arc. Defensively, Alabama is giving up 75.5 points per game while allowing the opposition to shoot 42.8 percent from the floor and 32.0 percent from deep. UA is the top three-point shooting team in the SEC, connecting on 235-of-764 treys this season for an average of 9.0 threes made per game – all of which leads the league.
Alabama was picked to finish second in the league in voting by a select panel of both SEC and national media members. Kentucky was the preseason favorite to win this year's regular season title, followed by the Tide, Arkansas, Tennessee and Auburn to round out the top five. Both Quinerly and Shackelford were named to the SEC Preseason First Team.
The Tide holds an all-time record of 1,733-1,077-1 (.616), which includes an 821-634 (.565) record in SEC play. By capturing its 800th SEC win, Alabama joined Kentucky as the only two teams in conference history to reach the milestone. UA also became the third team in the SEC and 34th team in NCAA history to reach 1,700 program wins. Only Kentucky and Arkansas have more wins than the Crimson Tide.

About Kentucky

Kentucky enters the contest sporting an 21-5 overall record on the season and is tied for second in the league standings with a 10-3 record in SEC play. Most recently, the Wildcats had their six-game winning streak snapped with a 76-63 loss at No. 16 Tennessee last Tuesday night. SEC Player of the Year candidate Oscar Tshiebwe finished with 13 points and 15 boards for his eighth-straight double-double and his 20th over the season (second in the nation).
Kentucky enters the contest ranked No. 4 in the Associated Press and No. 3 in the USA Today Coaches polls. Ken Pomeroy ranks the Wildcats No. 3 overall, which also lists UK No. 6 in offensive efficiency and No. 13 in defensive efficiency. UK also checks in at No. 3 in the NCAA NET rankings (as of 2/16).
Tshiebwe leads the nation in rebounding (15.3 rpg) and offensive rebounding (5.3 per game). He also ranks second nationally in defensive rebounds a game (10.0) . Freshman TyTy Washington Jr. is second in scoring (12.4 ppg) and assists (4.1) while graduate student Kellen Grady averages 11.8 points a game and leads the SEC at 43.4 percent shooting from beyond the arc (75-of-173).
Point guard and Georgia transfer Sahvir Wheeler steers the Kentucky attack, averaging 7.1 assists per game, which not only leads the SEC but ranks third in the nation, and 9.6 points a game. Meanwhile, Keion Brooks Jr. (11.8 ppg) and Davion Mintz (9.0 ppg) each contribute on the offensive end of the floor.
As a team, Kentucky leads the nation in rebounding margin (+10.8) and rank seventh nationally in total rebounds per game (41.1). Offensively, the Wildcats rank fifth in the nation in scoring margin (+15.9, 80.6-64.7), 11th in assists per game (16.9), 13th in scoring offense, 14th in offensive rebounding (13.2) and 15th in field goal percentage (48.5 percent) . Defensively, UK is allowing the opposition to shoot 40.5 percent from the floor and 29.6 percent from beyond the arc, which ranks 24th nationally.
Kentucky head coach John Calipari comes into Saturday's game with a career record of 805-238 (.772) in his 30th season at the helm of the men's basketball program. Now in his 13th season at UK, Calipari owns a record of 360-98 (.786).

Alabama-Kentucky Series Notes

Saturday's game will mark the 156th meeting in series history between to two schools and the contest played between the rivals this season.
Exactly two weeks ago, the Crimson Tide dropped a 66-55 decision to then-No. 5 Kentucky in Tuscaloosa on Feb. 5. Alabama had its worst shooting night of the season, connecting on just 28.1 percent (18-of-64) from the field and 10.0 percent (3-of-30) from beyond the arc in the losing effort. A full box score from that contest can be found below.
The 155 total games played in the series stands as UA's fifth-most common opponent in program lore. Kentucky owns a 115-40 edge in the all-time series.
In its last visit to Rupp Arena, Alabama defeated Kentucky 85-65 which snapped the Tide's eight-game losing streak in the historic venue. It was also the largest win by a UA team in Lexington since winning by 23 points (94-71) on Feb. 23, 1974.
Alabama will be looking to accomplish another first in the series on Saturday as the Tide has never won consecutive games in Lexington or Rupp Arena. The Tide owns an all-time record of 11-58 when playing UK in Lexington.
Last season, Alabama swept the season series which gave the Tide a season sweep over the Wildcats for the first time in 32 years dating back to the 1988-89 season. In the first meeting, the Crimson Tide captured an impressive 85-65 victory over the Wildcats inside Rupp Arena back – the largest win by a UA team in Lexington since winning by 23 points (94-71) on Feb. 23, 1974. UA followed that with a 70-59 win over UK in Tuscaloosa.
Despite the two wins, the Tide has dropped 14 of the last 17 games played against the Wildcats. The series began in 1923.

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