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(Lexington, KY 1-18-25) The ‘Cats took their first home loss of the season Saturday afternoon as they fell to Alabama by a score of 102-97. Alabama came into the game coming off a home loss to Ole Miss earlier in the week, while the ‘Cats were fresh off another top 15 win over Texas A&M at Rupp Arena. Alabama attacked the basket throughout the game and were often rewarded with free-throws. Alabama style of play is to get to the free-throw line as much as possible and shoot as many threes as possible and they followed that game plan perfectly on Saturday. The Crimson Tide finished the game going 29 of 34 from the free-throw line while connecting on 13 of the 34 threes in the game. The ‘Cats played a tough game and fought as the game went on. With 5-minutes to play the game was tied at 81 apiece. A quick run that featured two three-pointers for Alabama in the final 3-minutes proved to be enough for them to pull out the victory in Lexington. From a fan standpoint, the whistle seemed a little quicker against the ‘Cats throughout the game. At one point in the second half, Alabama led the foul margin 9 to 2 and were in the bonus with 15-minutes left in the second half. Still, there is plenty to be excited about for the ‘Cats as they head into a much needed “bye” week, with no mid-week game. Following the rest, the next three games for the ‘Cats feature Vanderbilt and Tennessee on the road and Arkansas at home. The ‘Cats will also get another shot at Alabama on the road on Saturday, February 22.
The spread for Saturday afternoons matchup against Alabama was -2.5 (Kentucky). The Over/Under points total was set at 179.5.
The starting lineup for the ‘Cats featured Lamont Butler, Jaxson Robinson, Otega Oweh, Andrew Carr, and Amari Williams.
Game Recap:
First Half
Alabama won the tip and started off the scoring with a designed play that found Omoruyi for an alley-oop slam. Oweh cleaned up a Robinson miss at the rip with a putback tip-in. Williams then rejected an Alabama shot and threw it off a Alabama player to retain possession for Kentucky. Williams then converted in the paint right before the buzzer to give the ‘Cats a 4-2 lead. Oweh found an air ball from Nelson and ran out in transition to find an open Robinson for three. Nelson responded with a three of his own on the next trip down the floor. Sears then nailed a three to give Alabama a 8-7 lead. The ‘Cats missed again and Nelson drove it in for an easy score. Nelson hit another three to give the Tide a 13-7 lead. Butler drove by his defender to end the Alabama run but Nelson again attacked the rim and got fouled. Alabama led 13-9 at the first media timeout. Travis Perry and Koby Brea checked into the game for the ‘Cats out of the timeout. Holloway nailed a three to give Alabama a 18-9 lead. Brea responded with a three on the other end. Robinson then hit his second of the game from beyond the arc. Brea worked his way into a mid-range floater to bring the score to 22-17 Crimson Tide. Oweh was fouled and went to the line for two free-throws. Oweh made both free-throws to bring the score to 24-19 Alabama. Oweh found a running Garrison for a transition layup to ignite the Rupp Arena crowd. Garrison saved the ball and found Almonor for a three. Garrison was left open and nailed a three to give Kentucky a 27-26 lead. Brea held his own on the defensive end to force a jump ball to head into the under 12-minute media timeout with the ‘Cats leading 27-26. The ‘Cats had connected on their last 6 field goals heading into the timeout. Williams posted up Omoruyi and drew a shooting foul on a shot-attempt. Williams made 1 of 2 at the line to give Kentucky a 28-26 lead. Omoruyi was fouled and tied the game at 28. Williams fought for another score at the rim. Williams continued to fight in the paint but was not rewarded with a foul call after fighting through strong contact. Butler then stole the ball and was fouled on a fast break to prevent an easy Kentucky score. Oweh nailed a mid-range jumper on the baseline. Oweh got crafty in transition on a Perry run out and converted at the rim again for a 34-28 lead. The game got physical and quickly in the next run with players getting on the floor and playing through contact every possession. Almonor hit both at the line to give the ‘Cats a 36-30 lead. Almonor was fouled fighting for a rebound on a missed three from Kentucky and returned to the line. He again hit both free-throws. Robinson missed a quick three and Nelson converted an and-one opportunity on the other end. Alabama returned to the line to narrow the Kentucky lead to 1 at 38=37 ‘Cats. Williams layed it up and in for a score. Carr picked up his third foul with 3-minutes remaining in the first half. Kentucky led 40-37 at the under 4-minute media timeout. Nelson converted at the rim to give Alabama a 41-40 lead. Sears nailed a corner three. Philon nailed a corner three for the Crimson Tide and Garrison responded with a layup through contact with no call. Kentucky forced a shot-clock violation before the halftime buzzer and Mark Pope called a timeout to draw up a play with 8-seconds to play in the half. Butler drove to the rim and was fouled with 2-seconds to play in the half. Butler made both free-throws and the ‘Cats trailed Alabama 47-45 at halftime.
The ’Cats played well throughout the first half with steady contributions coming from all members of the ‘Cats. Kentucky had 7 players score in the half, with Oweh and Williams leading the way with 8-points each. The ‘Cats shot 43% from the field and 45% (5 of 11) from beyond the arc. Alabama shot 41% from the field and 31% (6 of 19) from the three-point line in the half. Grant Nelson led the way with 19-points in the first half. Kentucky outrebounded the Crimson Tide 23-22 in the half. The first half was very physical with the whistle seeming to lean towards Alabama on impact plays despite the Tide getting called for 11 fouls to the ‘Cats 7. Carr and Robinson played through foul trouble in the first half and will look to get going in the second half as the ‘Cats look to convert against a physical Alabama team and continue to crash the boards on both ends of the floor.
Halftime: Kentucky 45 – Alabama 47
Second Half
Alabama scored on the first possession of the second half to give themselves a 49-45 lead. Butler nailed his first three of the game on the ‘Cats first opportunity. Butler got on the floor for a loose ball rebound and gained possession for the ‘Cats. Oweh bodied his defender for the score to give Kentucky a 50-49 lead. Butler blocked a three-point attempt by Sears out of the timeout. Carr stripped Nelson and threw a beautiful runout pass for an Oweh slam to give the ‘Cats a 52-49 lead. Philon tied the game with a three at the top of the key. Butler found Carr for a lay in through contact. Williams stole the ball but gave it right back on the next trip down the floor. Butler drew an offensive foul on Nelson on the next possession. Oweh found Garrison for a slam in the paint. Sears answered on the other end with a floater. Carr picked up his fourth foul with 15:29-minutes to play and the ‘Cats leading 56-54. Alabama was fouled on a take to the rim and tied the game at 56. Garrison found Butler for a dunk on a backdoor cut to the basket. Nelson was fouled and tied the game at 58. Kentucky was called for 7 fouls in the first 5-minutes of the second half. Sears gave Alabama the lead with a three. Holloway hit a three to give Alabama a 66-58 lead. Brea drove in and scored at the rim. Oweh was called for the 9th team foul in the second half on another questionable call on Nelson. With 11:40-minutes to play in the half, Kentucky had been called for 9 fouls to Alabama’s 2. Alabama led 67-60 after Nelson went 1 of 2 from the line. Oweh stole a pass and fought for an and-one opportunity. Garrison got an offensive board and found Brea for a three to cut the deficit to 67-65 Alabama. Alabama led 70-65 after a free-throw. Oweh was fouled and went to the line for two free-throws. Oweh hit both to make the score 70-67 Alabama. Oweh responded to an Alabama three with a jumper. Sears then nailed another three to push the score to 76-69 Alabama. Oweh nailed a three in response to bring the score to 76-72 Alabama with 7:54-minutes to play. Robinson peeled off a screen for a score. Nelson again drove to the rim, scored, and got the foul call once again. Alabama led 79-74 after the free-throw. Nelson picked up his fourth foul and Carr went to the line. Carr hit both at the line to bring the score to 79-76 Alabama. Omoruyi flushed in an alley-oop to push the lead back to 81-76 with 6-minutes to play. Robinson nailed a three after coming in cold off the bench with four fouls. Garrison slammed it home for the tie at 81 off a pick and roll. Philon retook the lead on the next possession for Alabama at 83-81. Williams was called for a shooting foul to send Alabama back to the line for two more shots. Alabama took an 84-81 lead into the under 4-minute media timeout. Youngblood nailed a three. Philon then hit another three to give Alabama a 90-81 lead. Butler converted an and-one after a Kentucky timeout to narrow the deficit to 90-84 after the free-throw. Oweh fouled Sears on a three-pointer and he hit all three free-throws to grow the lead to 93-84. Williams put a Robinson miss back up and in. Williams dunked it and drew the foul to head to the line to make the score 95-89 Alabama with 1-minute to play. Almonor and Butler hit threes for the ‘Cats as they continued to trade two free-throws for threes as the score sat at 99-95 with 30-seconds to play. The ‘Cats went on to fall by a score of 102-97.
Final: Kentucky 97 – Alabama 102
Game Stats:
Alabama FG %: 45% (38% 3PT – 13 of 34) (85% FT – 29 of 34)
Kentucky FG %: 48% (41% 3PT – 11 of 27) (80% FT – 16 of 20)
Rebounds: 42 – 38 Alabama
Assist/Turnover Ratio: 20:8
Turnovers: UK (8), Alabama (10)
Bench Points: 31 – 24 Kentucky
Points off Turnovers: 12 – 11 Alabama
Fast Break Points: 22 – 16 Kentucky
Paint Points: 44 – 34 Kentucky
Player Stats:
Otega Oweh – [(21 points) (6 rebounds) (3 assists) (1 block) (2 steals)]
Lamont Butler – [(17 points) (4 rebounds) (8 assists) (2 blocks) (1 steal)]
Amari Williams – [(13 points) (11 rebounds) (1 assist) (2 blocks) (1 steal)]
Jaxson Robinson – [(11 points) (1 rebound)]
Brandon Garrison – [(11 points) (6 rebounds) (5 assists)]
Ansley Almonor – [(10 points) (3 rebounds)]
Koby Brea – [(10 points) (2 rebounds) (3 blocks) (1 steal)]
Andrew Carr – [(4 points) (1 rebound) (1 assist) (1 steal)]
Travis Perry – [(1 rebound) (2 assists)]
Next Game:
The ‘Cats (14-4, 3-2 SEC) get the week off and will hit the road and head to Nashville to take on the Vanderbilt Commadores (14-3, 2-2 SEC) on Saturday, January 25. Tipoff is scheduled for 2:30 p.m. EST. The game will be televised on ESPN.
