Alabama hands UK first home loss of season in high-scoring showdown

Alabama was the first team to 100 points and it was just enough to hold off Kentucky Saturday in a showdown between the two top-scoring teams in the Southeastern Conference.

Coming off a disappointing 74-64 loss to Ole Miss earlier this week, the fourth-ranked Crimson Tide took the loss out on Kentucky and handed the eighth-ranked Wildcats their first home loss of the season with a 102-97 triumph.

"It was definitely a bounce-back from the game on Tuesday and quite a win today," Alabama coach Nate Oats said. "It was a really good team that we beat and I think we did a really good job."

The setback was Kentucky’s first loss to a Top-15 opponent in six attempts this season and was coach Mark Pope’s first home loss of his tenure.

"Our guys fought and they battled — we just didn't play that well," Pope said. "We still scored 97 points. We just didn't play great."

Playing its third consecutive home game against a Top 15 opponent, Kentucky couldn’t keep pace with the Alabama tandem of Grant Nelson with 25 points and preseason SEC Player of the Year candidate Mark Sears, who scored 24 points. The two players combined for 49 points, with Nelson adding 11 rebounds in the post.

Despite Alabama’s one-two punch of Nelson and Sears, the Wildcats placed seven players in double figures, led by leading scorer Otega Oweh, who poured in a season-high 21 points. Lamont Butler, who was listed as questionable prior to the game, finished with 17 points and dished out eight assists.

Pope praised the effort by Butler, who had been held out of practice after getting banged up in an 81-69 win over Texas A&M earlier this week.

“I thought he gave a really heroic effort and played well,” Pope said. “We need to get him healthy as quickly as we can.”

Amari Williams had a double-double with 13 points and 11 rebounds, followed by Jaxson Robinson with 11 and Ansley Almonor and Koby Brea with 10 points apiece.

The two teams combined for 24 3-pointers, but Alabama was clutch, with Sears connecting on four of his team’s 13 treys in the contest.

“We can be so much better,” Pope said of the loss. “I think that's the biggest thing. Alabama's a terrific team and they're a great team and not taking anything away from Alabama. We just left so much on the table. There's so much room for us to grow.”

The Wildcats (14-4, 3-2 SEC) were outrebounded 42-38 and were whistled for 25 personal fouls, most of which were in the post. Alabama (15-3, 4-1) made 29-of-34 free throws, compared to the hosts’ 16-for-20 clip at the charity stripe.

Pope said Alabama’s 15 offensive rebounds, 3-point shooting and free throw attempts were a perfect “trifecta” and singled out Alabama’s toughness at the rim as a big reason behind the loss.

“The glass hurt us two different ways,” Pope said. “One, it hurt us getting bullied at the rim, and two — errors on long shots and long rebound scrambles where … it felt like we were a little bit later balls I don't think we won the 50-50 ball game.”

Almonor added the Wildcats failed to keep pace with Alabama down the stretch.

“I felt like toward the end we didn’t execute our defense well and that’s what ended up hurting us," he said. "We played our game for the part but then it was just going back and forth and that made us lose focus."