Lost three times in the battle for first place in the SEC, Alabama left the Rupp Arena victorious for the first time in 15 years thanks to a three-point flood against an emotionally drained Kentucky basketball team.
Alabama did not have titleholder Jahvon Quinerly in the lineup and two other starters, Herb Jones and Jordan Bruner, left the game with injuries. Despite the setback, Nate Oats’ team scored an 85-65 victory, their first career victory over Kentucky.
Crimson Tide started the night on fire, making 10 of 22 points in the first half. They initially moved away from the UK after the Wildcats experienced another characteristic scoring drought. The United Kingdom landed just two shots in the final 8h27 of the first half. During that time, a 13-1 run in Alabama ended up leaving the game out of reach. Alabama ended the night on 14 of 30 on three-point land.
In addition to the three in Alabama, the turnover bug hit the UK heavily for the first time in 2021. A problem that plagued Kentucky in the first half of the season, Alabama turned 19 returns in the UK into 29 points.
Kentucky didn’t look like the team that just won three games in a row to start playing in the SEC. That’s because they were not the same team. The unexpected death of a former teammate, Ben Jordan, hovered over the locker room. On an exciting night at the Rupp Arena, the Wildcats paid tribute to their fallen friend in many ways, they just couldn’t play.
Chet White | UK Athletics