First Scouting Report: Can Kentucky slow down high-flying Alabama?
A look ahead to the Kentucky Wildcats’ next men’s basketball game:
The opponent
No. 17 Kentucky (18-8, 8-5 SEC) will face No. 13 Alabama (19-7, 11-2 SEC) on Saturday, Feb. 24, at Rupp Arena at Central Bank Center in downtown Lexington.
The game will tip off at 4 p.m. EST and be telecast by CBS.
Behind 22 points, eight rebounds and five blocks from North Dakota State transfer Grant Nelson, coach Nate Oats’ Crimson Tide defeated No. 24 Florida 98-93 in overtime Wednesday night in Tuscaloosa
Series history
Kentucky leads the all-time series with Alabama 116-41.
As UK coach, John Calipari is 18-6 vs. Alabama.
Alabama coach Nate Oats is 3-3 vs. Kentucky as Crimson Tide head man and is 3-4 vs. the Wildcats overall.
Most recent meeting
Alabama freshman star Brandon Miller had 19 points and seven rebounds and point guard Mark Sears had 16 points, six rebounds, four assists and six steals to lead the No. 7 Crimson Tide to a 78-52 pummeling of Kentucky on Jan. 7, 2023, at Coleman Coliseum in Tuscaloosa.
Bama held Kentucky star Oscar Tshiebwe to four points and six rebounds. Tshiebwe also turned the ball over four times and was repeatedly exploited defensively by the Alabama offense in high pick-and-roll sets.
It was close to an all-systems failure for UK. Kentucky’s top three scorers on the season entering the contest, Tshiebwe (1-of-7), Cason Wallace (1-of-13) and Jacob Toppin (1-of-10) combined to shoot 3-for-30 from the field.
Antonio Reeves came off the Kentucky bench and scored 20 points in 21 minutes and Sahvir Wheeler added 15 points for the Wildcats.
Power rankings
In the Pomeroy Ratings, Alabama is No. 6, Kentucky is No. 22.
The NCAA NET rankings have Alabama No. 5, Kentucky No. 20.
Know your foe
1. Alabama is seeking to win its third SEC regular-season title in the past four seasons. At 10-2, the Crimson Tide entered play Wednesday with a half-game lead over Tennessee (10-3) in the league standings.
Bama has been almost unbeatable (12-1) in Tuscaloosa, but the Tide are only 6-6 in games played anywhere else, including 4-4 in true road games.
2. Entering play Wednesday, Alabama was the nation’s highest-scoring team, averaging 90.7 points. The Crimson Tide were also No. 1 in adjusted offensive efficiency in the Pomeroy Ratings.
Nate Oats’ metrics-based offense emphasizes 3-point shooting, and Alabama went into play Wednesday night fourth in the country in 3-point attempts (30.7 a game) and second in the nation in average 3-pointers made a game (11.8).
Entering Wednesday’s games, the Crimson Tide stood 11th in 3-point percentage (38.54%). Kentucky was leading the nation in 3-point percentage, 40.50%.
3. Alabama senior point guard Mark Sears is one of the leading candidates for SEC Player of the Year honors. The 6-foot-1, 185-pound senior entered the Florida game averaging 20.6 points, 4.3 rebounds, 4.0 assists and 1.8 steals a game.
Sears actually played against Kentucky at Rupp Arena prior to launching his career at Alabama. As a sophomore guard at Ohio University, Sears had 10 points and five assists as the Bobcats fell to the Wildcats 77-59 at Rupp on Nov. 19, 2021.
Sears made only 2 of 11 field-goal attempts in his prior game at Rupp Arena.
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