TUSCALOOSA, Ala. — Two consecutive victories at home had provided Kentucky with some much-needed momentum on the basketball court.
So much for that.
The unranked Wildcats (10-5) went on the road and stumbled badly Saturday, falling behind from the start and ultimately losing, 78-52, to No. 7 Alabama, the top-ranked team in the Southeastern Conference.
Oscar Tshiebwe was benched — on multiple occasions — in the first half, the Cats struggled mightily on both sides of the court in the early going, and Kentucky was once again roundly embarrassed against a top-rated opponent.
Alabama was the fourth “Quadrant 1” game — the toughest on the schedule, according to the NCAA’s sorting methods — that the Cats had played this season. Kentucky has now lost all four by double digits. Whatever confidence was gained from wins over Louisiana State and Louisville over the previous days had surely dried up by the time UK left the Coleman Coliseum court.
Antonio Reeves scored 20 points. Sahvir Wheeler had 15. The Cats shot 28.8% from the field and 25.0% from 3-point range. They had just seven assists as a team.
Kentucky was a 5.5-point underdog Saturday, and the Cats have now failed to finish on the right side of the spread in nine consecutive games. Saturday’s result marked Alabama’s biggest victory margin against Kentucky.
It looked like it might be a blowout from the beginning.
Alabama made its first four shots and jumped out to an 8-0 lead less than three minutes into the game, with six of those points coming from Tide big man Charles Bediako, who had his way with Tshiebwe in the paint, leading to easy buckets.
Meanwhile, Kentucky missed its first six shots from the floor.
When Bama point guard Jaden Bradley streaked down the court in transition and put up a shot, an already raucous Coleman Coliseum was ready to erupt. Instead, Jacob Toppin swatted the shot, and Chris Livingston scored UK’s first basket of the game on the other end.
The Cats settled down from there, whittling Alabama’s advantage to just one point on two separate occasions later in the first half, but another Tide run before halftime sent the Cats to the locker room down double digits. Bama led 35-24 at the break, and John Calipari had to be held back by assistant Orlando Antigua as the Kentucky head coach screamed at referees before leaving the court. Wildcats assistant Bruiser Flint was also warned by the officials as the UK staff stormed off the floor, the momentum from earlier in the half all gone.
The Cats’ halftime stats were horrendous. UK shot 10 for 34 from the floor (29.4%). Kentucky had just two assists, both from Wheeler, who led the team with 10 points at the break. Wheeler was 5 for 10 in the first half. The rest of the team was 5 for 24.
Tshiebwe was 0 for 4 from the field with just two rebounds in 10 minutes. Calipari benched him three times in the first half. Toppin played excellent defense on Bama’s Brandon Miller — the league’s leading scorer coming into the weekend — but he was 0 for 6 from the floor in the first half. Cason Wallace missed both of his shot attempts before picking up his second foul with 15:10 still left before halftime.
Calipari put his original starters on the court to start the second half, and Bama’s lead had reached 16 points — the largest of the game — by the first TV timeout after the break.
About a minute after play resumed, the Tide led UK by 20 points. Before the midway point of the second half, Alabama’s lead had ballooned to 25 points. The margin reached 30 before the final TV timeout of the game.
Kentucky gets a shot to regain a little of its lost momentum Tuesday night, when South Carolina — the lowest-rated team in the SEC — comes to Rupp Arena. The Gamecocks came into Saturday with a 7-7 record and rated No. 203 nationally on KenPom.com.
