Alabama
11-3,1-0SEC
Kentucky
9-5,0-1SEC
No. 14/15 Alabama Opens Conference Play with 89-74 Win Over Kentucky
1/3/2026 2:47:00 PM | Men's Basketball
The Crimson Tide won its sixth straight conference opener in Saturday’s victory
TUSCALOOSA, Ala. -Â The No. 14/15 Alabama men's basketball team picked up its first win of the new year with an 89-74 victory over the Kentucky Wildcats in the Southeastern Conference opener for both teams inside Coleman Coliseum.Â
The Crimson Tide (11-3, 1-0 SEC) had 43 combined points from its backcourt duo of Aden Holloway (26 points) and Labaron Philon Jr. (17) on Saturday afternoon. Holloway's 26 points tied a career-high for the second straight game this season.
The Tide had scoring from eight total players with three others in double figures, including Houston Mallette (14 points), Amari Allen (11 points) and Noah Williamson (10 points).Â
Kentucky (9-5, 0-1 SEC) was led by Otega Oweh's 22 points on 8-for-16 shooting from the floor to go along with eight rebounds and three assists
Head Coach Nate Oats Postgame CommentsÂ
"Great win to start off SEC play. Obviously, Kentucky has a great basketball tradition with a ton of talent on that team. Building a 21-point lead in the second half speaks to the way our guys started the game out. We started down 5-0 and then went on a big run. It's nice to change the starting lineup again with Houston Mallette. Houston is great, he's one of my favorite kids I've ever coached. He comes to me before games about keep bringing him off the bench. He started off 4-of-4 from three. He's just all about the right stuff. He's got a lot of Herb Jones in him, not caring where he starts. Our guards have been some of our better players and it's hard to put them all in there. We can put (Latrell) Wrightsell Jr. on their four man, so I thought that was big. You also can't do that without Amari Allen getting nine rebounds.
"We didn't expect Wrightsell to get a lot of rebounds guarding (UK's Mo Dioubate), but he kept him off enough and guarded him well in the post. Dioubate is their second leading scorer coming into the game. We were trying to keep the ball out of the paint. Paint points were close, but they ended up outscoring us by four. The main thing was to keep the ball out of the paint and out of transition."
Team StatsÂ
- The victory marks Alabama's fourth straight win over Kentucky, the longest winning streak over the Wildcats in program history
- Nate Oats moved to a 7-4 record against Kentucky with a 4-1 record at home against the Wildcats
- Noah Williamson, who entered Saturday's contest with 14 total points this season, finished the day with a season-high 10 points to move him over 1,000 points in his career (1,007)
- The Tide won the rebound battle 41-37, with Amari Allen leading all players with nine boards, including six on the offensive glass
- Three-point shooting played a major factor in the contest, with Alabama finishing 15-for-38 (39 percent) from deep and Kentucky shooting just 4-for-19 (21 percent) from beyond the arc
- The contest saw just one lead change at the 16:16 mark in the first half, in which the Crimson Tide led the rest of the game
First Half
- Kentucky put the first five points on the board before a 17-5 Alabama run from 19:04-13:25 (5:39) gave the tide a 17-10 lead in the early minutes
- Alabama stayed on the gas offensively down the stretch as well, holding the Wildcats scoreless from 10:42-7:19 (3:23) while Nate Oats' squad took a 30-16 lead
- The Tide led by as many as 21 points (47-26 with 1:41 remaining) and retained its double-digit advantage, sinking five of its last nine shots to enter halftime with a 50-34 lead
- Aden Holloway led all scorers at the break with 16 points, shooting 4-for-5 from the floor, including 3-of-4 from beyond the arc
- The Tide controlled the boards at the half, 21-17, with five different players grabbing at least three boards each
- Oats' squad dished out 11 assists on 17 made field goals compared to the Wildcats' three assists on 11 made field goals
- Alabama had no trouble finding the basket in the opening stanza, shooting 17-for-33 (52 percent) from the floor and 10-for-22 (46 percent) from three compared to Kentucky's 11-for-29 (38 percent) shooting and 2-for-9 (22 percent) shooting from beyond the arc
Second Half
- The Wildcats opened the second half with an 11-5 run through the first 3:30, but the Tide responded with an 11-5 run of its own from 15:32-12:13 (3:19)
- Both squads traded baskets down the stretch until a 13-7 run by Alabama stretched its lead to 76-57 with 9:44 to go
- The Wildcats clawed its way back after a 9-0 Kentucky run that lasted nearly three minutes and erased the Tide's double-digit advantage after holding it for 22:11 consecutive minutes
- However, Alabama cranked up the defensive intensity to close the game, holding Kentucky to just one made field goal through the final 5:38
- Labaron Philon Jr. led all scorers in the closing frame with 15 points off 5-for-12 shooting from the field
- The Crimson Tide defensive effort held the Kentucky starting five to just 17 combined points in the second half
Up Next
- Alabama will make a road trip to Nashville to take on the Vanderbilt Commodores on Wednesday, Jan. 7
- Tipoff is set for 8:00 p.m. CT inside Memorial Gymnasium and can be seen on ESPN2
