Alabama
15-3,4-1SEC
#8 Kentucky
14-4,3-2SEC
No. 4/5 Alabama Bounces Back with a 102-97 Road Win at No. 8/9 Kentucky
1/18/2025 2:47:00 PM | Men's Basketball
Grant Nelson (25 points, 10 rebounds) and Mark Sears (24 points, nine assists) lead the Crimson Tide to its sixth AP Top-25 win this season
LEXINGTON, Ky. – Alabama's Grant Nelson recorded a double-double with 25 points and 10 rebounds while Mark Sears added 24 to lead the No. 4/5 Crimson Tide men's basketball team to an impressive 102-97 road victory at No. 8/9 Kentucky Saturday afternoon. It marked UA's first win in Rupp Arena when playing at top 10 UK team since 2002.
The contest was tight throughout featuring six ties and six lead changes until Alabama (15-3, 4-1 SEC) used a game-deciding 9-0 run to take a 90-81 lead late in the contest. UK did not get any closer than four points the rest of the way as UA sealed the win by hitting 9-10 free throws in the final minute.
For Nelson, it marked his fifth double-double of the year, while Sears added a game high nine assists compared to just one turnover in the win. Together, Nelson (9-10) and Sears (5-5) also came up clutch at the free throw line, combining to go 14-15 in the win.
In addition to Nelson and Sears, Labaron Philon (15), Clifford Omoruyi (12) and Chris Youngblood (10) also scored in double figures for the Tide. Kentucky (14-4, 3-2) had seven players reach double digits, led by Otega Oweh's 21 points.
Head Coach Nate Oats Postgame Comments
"Couldn't be more proud of the group of guys after the poor showing on Tuesday. To bounce back and play the way we did here today because this is a really good team we beat. They (Kentucky) are a high-powered offensive team and we gave them too many threes late but until then I thought we had done a pretty good job. They still ended up with seven guys in double-figures so our defense certainly didn't win us this game but our offense showed up a lot better than it did against Ole Miss on Tuesday. I thought our defense was good for large stretches against a pretty good offensive team."
Team Stats
- The win was head coach Nate Oats' 24th win over a top 25 team during his tenure at UA, placing one victory from tying the program's record for victories over AP Top 25 teams for a head coach (Wimp Sanderson, 25)
- Alabama now has six top-25 wins on the season, one shy of matching the 2022-23 squad's school record of seven such victories
- Saturday's game was Alabama's third 100-point game versus an AP-ranked team this season, the most in a season since the 1948-49 season
- Alabama's three AP top-10 wins is the most in a season since the 1982-83 season
- It is the fifth time this season, and second time in SEC play, that the Tide has hit the century mark in scoring
- The victory came off the heels of Alabama's worst offensive outing of the season when it lost to No. 21/21 Ole Miss 74-64 last Tuesday night in Coleman Coliseum
- UA outrebounded UK 42-38 which included 15 offensive rebounds after securing a season low four offensive boards in the loss to the Rebels
- The Tide entered the contest hitting 69.7 percent from the free throw line, but connected on 29-34 (85.3 percent) in Saturday's victory
- Alabama shot 45 percent (30-67) from the floor and 38 percent (13-34) from beyond the arc
- In comparison, Kentucky hit 48 percent (35-73) of its shots, 41 percent (11-27) from deep and 80 percent (16-20) from the foul line
- Mark Sears moves to No. 14 on Alabama's all-time scoring list with 1,600 career points, passing Robert Horry
First Half
- A fast-paced first half, both teams combined for 36 fastbreak points with Alabama scoring 20 points and Kentucky recording 16
- After Kentucky got off to a hot start to the game, Alabama went on an 11-0 run in less than a minute and a half to take an 18-9 lead early in the half
- Nelson was exceptional in the first half, scoring 10 of Alabama's first 20 points in the game
- After struggling from the field midway through the half, Alabama was able to retake the lead within the final two minutes, going to the break with a 47-45 lead
- Nelson led all scorers with 19 points in the first half
- Alabama dished out 12 assists off 16 made field goals
- Kentucky outrebounded Alabama 23-22, including grabbing nine offensive rebounds which led to 10 second chance points
Second Half
- Alabama went on a 9-0 run from 14:22-12:33 to take a 66-58 lead sparked by a pair of three-pointers from Aden Holloway and Mark Sears
- After trailing most of the half, Kentucky was able to tie the game at 81-all with 5:13 left in the game before Alabama would quickly regain the lead off a Labaron Philon layup
- Back-to-back threes from Labaron Philon and Chris Youngblood helped UA to a 9-0 spurt to take the lead for good, 90-81, with just under two minutes remaining
- UK trimmed the lead to four, 99-95, with 28 seconds left, but would not get any closer
Up Next
- Alabama will return home to face Vanderbilt on Tuesday, Jan. 21, at Coleman Coliseum
- Tipoff is set for 6 p.m. CT and will be televised on the SEC Network
