College basketball final: No. 4 Alabama 102, No. 8 Kentucky 97
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Game day: No. 4 Alabama 102, No. 8 Kentucky 97
Click below for more of the Herald-Leader and Kentucky.com’s coverage of Saturday’s men’s basketball game between Kentucky and Alabama in Rupp Arena.
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Two of the nation’s highest-scoring teams in college basketball collide Saturday at Rupp Arena when the eighth-ranked Kentucky Wildcats play host to No. 4 Alabama Crimson Tide. The start time is noon on ESPN, with Dan Shulman and Jay Bilas serving as the broadcast team.
Each team is 14-3 overall and 3-1 in the SEC. Alabama is tied with Iowa for the national scoring lead at 89.5 points per game. Kentucky is third nationally in scoring at 88.7 points per game.
Ben Roberts, Ryan Hermens, Mark Story, Cameron Drummond and yours truly will be reporting on the action from inside Central Bank Center. You can follow Ben on Bluesky at @benrobertshl. You can follow the rest of us on X/Twitter at @ryanhermens, @markcstory, @cdrummond97 and @johnclayiv.
Follow a dedicated Kentucky men’s basketball X/Twitter list.
Final: Alabama 102, Kentucky 97
Grant Nelson scored 25 points and Mark Sears added 24 as Alabama defeated Kentucky 102-97 at Rupp Arena. Bama made 7 of 15 of its 3-point attempts in the second half and shot 44.8 percent overall, including 50 percent over the final 20 minutes. Bama improved to 15-3 overall and 4-1 in the SEC.
Kentucky was led by Otega Oweh’s 21 points. Lamont Butler addd 17. Amari Williams had 13 points and 11 rebounds. UK suffered its first home loss of the season and dropped to 13-4 overall and 3-2 in the SEC.
Alabama up three at final media timeout
Alabama leads Kentucky 84-81 at the final media timeout of 3:53. Both teams are battling foul trouble. UK tied it at 81 on a Brandon Garrison dunk off a Lamont Butler assist. But Bama’s Labaron Philon scored to make it 83-81 Tide at the 4:59 mark. UK is shooting 50% this half, including 4-for-11 from 3. Bama is 5-for-12 from 3 and is shooting 52.2% this half.
Otega Oweh keeping Kentucky close
Each time it looks like Alabama is starting to pull away, UK’s Otega Oweh makes a basket. The Oklahoma transfer has 21 points. He’s 8-of-13 from the floor. Bama’s Grant Nelson has 22 points as the Crimson Tide leads 76-72 with 7:54 left. Mark Sears is now 4-of-11 from 3-point range and has 16 points for Alabama. UK is shooting 55% this half. Alabama is shooting 52.9%.
Foul trouble for the Cats
Alabama now up on Kentucky 66-60 at the 11:40 media timeout here in the second half. Grant Nelson has 21 points for the Tide. Kentucky fans aren’t happy with the officiating as the Cats have been called for nine fouls this half, compared to two for Alabama. UK’s Andrew Carr has four fouls. Amari Williams and Jaxson Robinson each have three. After scoring 49 points in last two games, Robinson has scored six so far in this game.
Kentucky retakes the lead
Kentucky leads Alabama 56-54 with 15:29 left at Rupp. UK has made five of its seven shots this half, including its only 3-point attempt — that by Lamont Butler. Alabama is 1-of-4 from 3 this half and 7-of-23 for the game.
Halftime: Alabama 47, Kentucky 45
Grant Nelson scored 19 points to lead No. 4 Alabama to a 47-45 lead over No. 8 Kentucky at Rupp. Nelson, who scored just 15 points in his last three games, was 6-of-10 from the floor, including 2-of-5 from 3-point range. He was also a perfect 5-of-5 from the foul line.
Alabama shot 41% from the floor, but was 6-of-19 from 3-point range for 31.6%. Kentucky shot 42.9% from the floor. The Cats were 5-of-11 from 3-point range. Otega Oweh and Amari Williams each scored eight points. Williams grabbed six rebounds.
Kentucky up three with 3:16 left in first half
Alabama’s Grant Nelson scored 15 points in his last three games. The Crimson Tide forward has 15 points with 3:16 to go in the first half. Kentucky leads the visitors 40-37, however. Alabama is 4-of-17 from 3-point range. Kentucky is 5-of-11 from beyond the arc. Otega Oweh leads the Cats with eight points. Amari Williams has grabbed a game-high 5 rebounds.
A cold spell
All of a sudden, both teams have gone cold. Alabama has missed its last six shots and eight of its last nine. Kentucky has missed six of its last seven. UK holds a 30-28 lead with 7:59 left in the first half at Rupp. By the way, Alabama is 4-of-13 from 3-point range at this point. And we should say that the crowd is really into it.
So far, this is what we thought it could be
Kentucky leads Alabama 27-26 with 10:48 left in first half. Alabama scored on nine straight possessions before UK came back to take the lead on a Brandon Garrison 3-pointer. Bama is 10-of-17 from the field, including 4-of-9 from 3-point range. Cats are 10-of-16 from the floor, including 5-of-7 from 3. Grant Nelson with 12 points for the Tide. Jaxson Robinson leads UK with six.
Alabama takes the early lead
Alabama turned the ball over 21 times in its home loss to Ole Miss on Tuesday. Through the first TV timeout (15:41), the Tide hasn’t turned it over yet here at Rupp. Alabama has made five of eight shots, including three of its four from 3-point range for a 13-9 lead on Kentucky. Grant Nelson has scored eight of Alabama’s 13. Bama was on an 11-0 run.
Officials for Kentucky-Alabama
Officials for Kentucky-Alabama are Joe Lindsay, Steven Anderson and Patrick Evans. Lindsay worked Kentucky’s 77-72 win over Duke in the Champions Classic in Atlanta. Starting with the 2020-21 season, this is the 19th Kentucky basketball game that Lindsay has worked. Anderson worked UK’s 82-69 loss at Georgia. He also worked the Cats’ loss to Oakland in last year’s NCAA Tournament. Evans worked Kentucky’s 85-65 loss to Ohio State in the CBS Sports Classic at Madison Square Garden in New York.
Scouting report: Alabama
Coached by Nate Oats, Alabama was ranked eighth in adjusted overall efficiency, according to Ken Pomeroy’s analytics. The Tide is seven in adjusted offensive efficiency and 33rd in adjusted defensive efficiency.
After opening SEC play with a home win over Oklahoma and road victories over South Carolina and Texas A&M, Alabama is coming off a 74-64 home loss to Ole Miss. Turnovers were the Tide’s undoing against the Rebels. Alabama committed 21 turnovers, including five in its first seven possessions of the first half and three in its first four possessions of the second.
The fact that Bama missed 15 of its 20 attempts from 3-point range didn’t help either. Surprisingly, Alabama ranks 252nd in 3-point percentage at 32.0. But the Tide is third nationally in 2-point percentage at 61.4. Preseason SEC Player of the Year Mark Sears leads the Tide in scoring at 18.6 points per game. The 6-foot-1 guard is shooting 35.3% from 3-point land, down from 43.6% last season.
Scouting report: Kentucky
Coach Mark Pope and his Wildcats are 16th in the KenPom adjusted overall efficiency rankings before Friday night’s action. UK ranked No. 2 in adjusted offensive efficiency and No. 76 in adjusted defensive efficiency. The Cats are ninth nationally in turnover percentage at 13.8.
UK is coming off an 81-69 win over No. 11 Texas A&M on Tuesday. It was the Cats’ fifth win without loss against teams ranked in the top 15 of the AP Top 25. The Alabama game is the third straight Kentucky home game against a team ranked in the top 15 — Florida was ranked No. 6 when UK beat the Gators 95-90 at Rupp on Jan. 4 — a first for the program.
Otega Oweh leads the Cats in scoring at 15.4 points per game, but teammate Jaxson Robinson is coming off back-to-back stellar scoring efforts. Robinson scored 27 points in the win at Mississippi State, then followed up with 22 in the win over Texas A&M. Robinson was a combined 12-for-23 shooting from 3 in those two games. He had been 6-for-22 from 3 in his previous four games.
Kentucky men’s basketball roster
Kentucky men’s basketball schedule
Kentucky men’s basketball statistics
This story was originally published January 18, 2025 at 10:00 AM.
