Alabama Welcomes No. 5/7 Kentucky to Coleman Coliseum Saturday Night

Saturday, February 5

Tuscaloosa, Ala.

7 p.m. CT

Alabama

Kentucky

Alabama Welcomes No. 5/7 Kentucky to Coleman Coliseum Saturday Night

2/4/2022 2:01:00 PM | Men's Basketball

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The Crimson Tide will play its third consecutive top-5 opponent when it squares off against the Wildcats for a 7 p.m. CT on ESPN

TUSCALOOSA, Ala. – Alabama will return home to take on No. 5/7 Kentucky on Saturday at 7 p.m. CT on ESPN. It is the third consecutive top-5 ranked opponent for the Crimson Tide and the first of two games between the teams this year.

Alabama will play the return game in Lexington, Ky., in exactly two weeks, Feb. 19 inside Rupp Arena. That contest will be televised nationally on CBS with a noon CT (1 p.m. ET) tipoff.

Alabama will face its third-straight game against an AP Top-5 opponent, which is the first time it's occurred since the 2008-09 season when Rutgers played consecutive games against No. 1 North Carolina (12/28/08), No. 3 Pitt (12/31/08) and No. 2 UConn (1/3/09), losing all three contests. The Tide owns a 1-1 record in the stretch, defeating then-No. 4 Baylor (87-78) one week ago before dropping a road contest at No. 1 Auburn (100-81) last Tuesday night.

The Broadcast

Saturday's game will be available on ESPN with Tom Hart (play-by-play) and Jimmy Dykes (analyst) on the call
The radio broadcast can be heard on the Crimson Tide Sports Network with Chris Stewart (play-by-play), Bryan Passink (analyst) and Roger Hoover (courtside) 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

Alabama owns a 5-2 record when playing teams ranked among the Associated Press Top 25, with all seven contests coming against teams ranked inside the top 15. The five wins is tied for the second-most top-25 wins in the country (Marquette has six, Texas Tech with five) and the second-most in a single season, one shy of matching the 2017-18 squad that finished with six top-25 wins.
NET RANKING FACTS: Alabama has a NET Ranking of No. 22 in the nation as of 2/3 which is fifth-best in the SEC... UA leads the nation with three wins among the top-5 of the NCAA NET Rankings (No. 1 Gonzaga, No. 2 Houston, No. 5 Baylor)... of the nine games remaining on the regular-season slate, three are Q1 opponents and five are Q2 ... all four remaining Q1 games are against teams in the top 15 of the NCAA NET... UA is tied for second in the nation in total number of Quad 1 wins (6)... Alabama is the only team in the nation to have not played a Quad 4 opponent.
The Crimson Tide remains just outside the top-25 rankings for Week 13. Alabama is first team left out in both the Associated Press (97 votes, No. 26) and Ferris Mowers USA Today Coaches Poll (39 votes, No. 26) Top 25 polls according to the most recent national rankings which were revealed Monday afternoon.
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.
Junior guard Jaden Shackelford has been on a tear as of late, collecting 20 or more points in four of Alabama's last five contests. Over the five-game span, Shackelford is averaging 22.4 points, 5.2 rebounds and 3.4 3s made per game while shooting 42.3 percent from the floor, 39.5 percent from deep and 83.3 percent from the foul line.
The Tide is 7-0 on the season when holding the opposition to under 70 points in a game. The achievement has only been done twice in conference play against then-No. 14 Tennessee (73-68 on Dec. 29) and then-No. 13 LSU (70-67 on Jan. 19).
According to the other metric rankings, Alabama is ranked in the following (as of 2/4): No. 18 KenPom.com, No. 19 ESPN.com BPI, No. 20 Sagarin and No. 23 in the NCAA NET rankings. The Tide's "Best" NET wins (Quad 1) include: Gonzaga (No. 1), Houston (No. 2), Baylor (No. 5), Tennessee (No. 13), LSU (No. 15) and at Florida (No. 49).
Alabama owns a record of 2-2 in games that have come down to a single possession (3 or fewer points) and is 3-4 in two possession contests (4-6 points) on the year.
UP NEXT: Alabama is set to travel for its only road contest in the current four-game stretch when it heads to Oxford, Miss., to take on the Ole Miss Rebels on Wednesday night (7:30 p.m. on SEC Network). It will be the lone meeting during the regular season between the two teams.

About Alabama

The Crimson Tide is led by three players who average double figures in Jaden Shackelford (17.6 ppg), Jahvon Quinerly (14.8 ppg) and Keon Ellis (12.0 ppg). The trio combines to account for 54 percent (44.4 of the 81.4 points per game average), 70 percent of the three-pointers made (143 of 205), 52 percent field goals made (324 of 625) and 52 percent of the total free throws made (185 of 335).
The Tide 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 (4.1 apg) while also ranking among the team leaders at 8.2 points and 4.2 rebounds per contest. Bediako has been a strong inside presence, collecting 6.1 points, 4.2 rebounds and a team-leading 1.5 blocks a game. Meanwhile, sophomore Juwan Gary has also been impressive in his second year at UA, averaging 8.3 points and 4.3 rebounds per game.
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 1,731-1,075-1 (.616), which includes an 819-632 (.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 18-4 overall record on the season and is in second in the league standings with a 7-2 record in SEC play. Most recently, the Wildcats earned their third consecutive win by taking down Vanderbilt, 77-70, last Wednesday night in Lexington, Ky. Junior Keion Brooks Jr. (21) and graduate student Davion Mintz (20) led four players in double figures, while junior Oscar Tshiebwe finished with 11 points and 17 rebounds in the win.
Kentucky enters the contest ranked No. 5 in the Associated Press and No. 7 in the USA Today Coaches polls. Ken Pomeroy ranks the Wildcats No. 3 overall, which also lists UK No. 4 in offensive efficiency and No. 19 in defensive efficiency, while checking in at No. 8 in the NCAA NET rankings (as of 2/3).
Tshiebwe is the nation's leading rebounder at 15.2 boards per game and also leads the country with an average of 5.1 offensive rebounds a contest. He also ranks second nationally in defensive rebounds a game (10.1) and third in double-doubles (16). Freshman TyTy Washington Jr. is second in scoring (12.8 ppg) and assists (4.2) while graduate student Kellen Grady averages 12.0 points a game and leads the SEC at 44.2 percent shooting from beyond the arc (65-of-147).
Point guard and Georgia transfer Sahvir Wheeler steers the Kentucky attack, averaging 7.0 assists per game, which not only leads the SEC but ranks seventh in the nation, and 10.5 points a game. Meanwhile, Brooks Jr. (11.5 ppg) and Mintz (8.8 ppg) each contribute on the offensive end of the floor.
As a team, Kentucky leads the nation in rebounding margin (+11.9) and rank ninth nationally in total rebounds per game (41.1). Offensively, the Wildcats rank fifth in the nation in scoring margin (81.9-64.4, +17.5), sixth in field goal percentage (49.3 percent), ninth in scoring offense and 12th in assists per game (17.0). Defensively, UK is allowing the opposition to shoot 40.9 percent from the floor and 30.7 percent from beyond the arc.
Kentucky head coach John Calipari comes into Saturday's game with a career record of 802-237 (.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 357-97 (.786).

Alabama-Kentucky Series Notes

Saturday's game will mark the 155th meeting in series history between to two schools and the first of two meetings between the rivals this season. second meeting between the teams during the regular season. The Crimson Tide will travel to Lexington, Ky., for the return to game in exactly two weeks (Feb. 19).
The 154 total games played in the series stands as UA's fifth-most common opponent in program lore. Kentucky owns a 114-40 edge in the all-time series.
When playing Kentucky in Tuscaloosa, Alabama owns an all-time record of 25-31, including an 19-20 mark in games played at Coleman Coliseum.
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 consecutive wins, the Tide has dropped 13 of the last 16 games played against the Wildcats. The series began in 1923.

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