Alabama
19-8,11-3SEC
#17 Kentucky
19-8,9-5SEC
No. 13 Men's Basketball Falls on the Road to No. 17 Kentucky
2/24/2024 6:17:00 PM | Men's Basketball
The Crimson Tide drops to 11-3 in the Southeastern Conference
LEXINGTON, Ky. – The No. 13 Alabama men's basketball team fell for just the third time in Southeastern Conference play, falling to No. 17 Kentucky, 117-95, Saturday afternoon at Rupp Arena.Â
Alabama (19-8, 11-3 SEC) had six players score double figures led by Rylan Griffen (21 points) and Mark Sears (20 points), as the duo combined to score 41 of the team's 95 total points. Grant Nelson (13), Aaron Estrada (13), Mouhamed Dioubate (12) and Nick Pringle (11) also reached double digits in the losing effort.
The Wildcats (19-8, 9-5 SEC) were nearly unstoppable on offense, shooting 63 percent from the field and 54 percent (13-24) from beyond the arc. Five UK players scored double-figures led by Justin Edward's 28 points on 10-of-10 shooting from the floor and 4-of-4 from deep.
Head Coach Nate Oats Postgame Comments
"Kentucky was ready to play tonight, and we were not. Coach Cal (John Calipari) had his guys ready to go. They looked great, we looked awful and our defensive intensity was weak. We told our guys after the game we have had question marks about our defense all year. Those question marks are completely erased, and everyone knows that we don't really guard at this point. Any kind of decent defense was played in the last eight minutes when I thought the game was already over.
There's not a lot of positives about this. The only positive thing is that we played well enough on offense through the course of the year to be tied for first place. We have four games left and we've got to figure out how to get these guys little more motivated to play harder on defense."
TEAM STATS
- Alabama has now scored 80 points in eight straight games, the third-longest streak in the SEC in the last 30 years (Kentucky had 10 in 1995-96 and nine in 2016-17)
- The Tide committed 16 turnovers resulting in 29 points by the Wildcats
- Mark Sears recorded his 17th 20-point game of the season, the most by an Alabama player since 1993 (James "Hollywood" Robinson, 17 games)
- UA outrebounded UK, 28-26, and owned a 56-44 edge in points in the paint
- UK finished with 24 assists on 41 made baskets while committing just 10 turnoversÂ
- Kentucky's 117 points ties for the third-most points allowed by Alabama in any game in program history
FIRST HALF
- Rylan Griffen scored a team-high 12 points in the first half
- Kentucky had three players score double-figures led by Antonio Reeves' 15 points
- The Wildcats scored 16 points off Alabama's nine turnovers
- Alabama shot 55 percent from the field (16-29)Â
- With UA leading 29-28, Kentucky would go on a 20-2 run for nearly six minutes to take a 48-31 leadÂ
- The Tide would go on to trail by 16, 58-42, at intermission
- Kentucky's 58 points is the most points Alabama has allowed in a half this season (previous high was 55 at Auburn)
SECOND HALF
- Three UA players finished with double digits in the second half, as Sears scored 11, with Nelson and Diaboute each adding 10
- Kentucky reached the 100-point mark with just under nine minutes left in the contest
- Alabama shot 58 percent (18-31) from the floor after intermission, however, went just 2-9 (22 percent) from three-point range
UP NEXT
- Alabama will conclude its two-game road swing Wednesday night when it travels to take on Ole Miss in Oxford, Miss.
- The game is slated for an 8 p.m. CT tipoff and will air live on ESPN2
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