First Scouting Report: Can UK pay back Alabama for last season’s Rupp Arena rout?
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Game day: No. 16 Tennessee 76, No. 4 Kentucky 63
Click below for more of the Herald-Leader’s and Kentucky.com’s coverage of Tuesday night’s game between Kentucky and Tennessee at Thompson-Boling Arena in Knoxville, Tenn.
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A look ahead to the Kentucky Wildcats’ next men’s basketball game:
The opponent
No. 4 Kentucky (21-5, 10-3 SEC) will face No. 25 Alabama (16-9, 6-6 SEC) on Saturday at Rupp Arena at Central Bank Center (capacity 20,545) in downtown Lexington:
The game will tip off at 1 p.m. (EST) and be telecast by CBS.
Before traveling to Lexington, Coach Nate Oats’ Crimson Tide will face Mississippi State (14-10, 5-6 SEC) on Wednesday at 7 p.m. (EST) in Tuscaloosa. That game will be telecast by ESPN2.
Series history
Kentucky leads the all-time series with Alabama 115-40 and but the two teams have split the past six meetings.
Most recent meeting
Kentucky held Alabama to 3-of-30 shooting on three-point attempts and got an unexpected lift off its bench from freshman forward Daimion Collins — who contributed 10 points and six rebounds in nine minutes — as the Wildcats beat the Crimson Tide 66-55 on Feb. 5, 2022, at Coleman Coliseum in Tuscaloosa.
Power rankings
Through Monday’s games, the NCAA’s NET Rankings had Kentucky No. 3 and Alabama No. 21.
The Kenpom Rankings rated UK No. 3 and Alabama No. 18.
Kentucky stood No. 4 in the Sagarin Ratings with Alabama No. 20.
Know your foe
1. Since its loss to UK on Feb. 5, Alabama has beaten Mississippi 97-83 on the road and ended Arkansas’s nine-game win streak, 68-67, at Coleman Coliseum. After making only three of 30 three-point shots vs. UK, the Crimson Tide hit 14 of 22 in the victory over Ole Miss and seven of 29 against Arkansas.
2. Remarkable balance carried Bama over Arkansas. The Tide had 10 players score between three and 11 points in the game, led by JD Davison (11 points), Jaden Schackelford (10) and Noah Gurley (nine).
3. Alabama Coach Nate Oats is 2-3 overall against Kentucky, 2-2 as Crimson Tide head man. Last season, Alabama swept UK in two games, walloping the Wildcats 85-65 in Rupp Arena, then grinding out a 70-59 victory in Tuscaloosa.
In a series that began in 1923, Alabama has never beaten Kentucky two straight in games played in Lexington.
Kentucky Coach John Calipari is 17-5 against Alabama as UK head man.
This story was originally published February 15, 2022 at 11:31 PM.
