The 14th ranked Alabama Crimson Tide defeated Kentucky for the fourth straight time Saturday by a score of 89-74 at Coleman Coliseum. The Tide beat the Cats three times last year and extended the teams longest winning streak over UK. Bama improved to 11-3 overall and 1-0 in conference play while the Wildcats fell to 9-5 and 0-1.
The Tide got Labaron Philon and London Jemison back from injury but Taylor Bol Bowen missed another game with his ankle injury. Coach Nate Oats sent out a starting lineup of Philon, Aden Holloway, Latrell Wrightsell, Amari Allen, and Aiden Sherrell. Kentucky countered with Otega Owen, Denzel Aberdeen, Collin Chandler, Malachi Moreno, and former Alabama player, Mo Dioubate. Dioubate was greeted with boos from the crowd at induction and every time he touched the ball in the game.
Kentucky jumped out to a quick 5-0 lead before the Tide got rolling. Allen made a three and a hoop in the paint to tie the game 5-5 with 17:58 left in the half. Houston Mallette came into the game and immediately hit from long range, followed by a triple from Holloway. Wrightsell hit from deep and Bama led 24-16 with 9:23 remaining. Mallette dialed up another three and Sherrell made an old fashioned three point play for a 30-16 score at the 7:35 mark. Allen went down while going for a rebound and limped into the locker room with an apparent ankle injury. The injury brought Jemison in, who is still hobbled by his own injury. Soon afterwards Sherrell went down holding his knee and was escorted into the locker room as well. Noah Williamson was pressed into action to help feel the void. Williamson got an offensive rebound and scored on a put back, much to the delight of the fans and his teammates. Mallette drilled his fourth from long range in the half and Holloway put a bow on the half with a long range shot just before the buzzer for a 50-34 Alabama lead. The battered Tide had built a 21 point lead and despite the injuries were able to take the 16 point margin into the locker room.
Bama shot 17-33 in the half, including 10-22 from three point range, and hit 6-9 at the free throw line. The Tide grabbed 21 rebounds with six offensively, dished out 11 assists, had two blocks, three steals, and committed five turnovers. Holloway led the way with 16 points and three assists. Mallette was 4-4 from deep and scored 14 points with three rebounds. Allen scored five and added five rebounds, two assists, and a blocked shot. Philon was held to two points in 12 minutes as he didn’t look to be 100 percent.
Kentucky shot 11-29 for 38% and made only 2-9 from deep while making 10-15 from the charity stripe. The Cats had 17 rebounds, three assists, two blocks, three steals, and turned the ball over five times. Owen scored 13 to lead the team while Jaland had seven points. Dioubate scored four and led the team with five rebounds.
Keitenn Bristow replaced the absent Sherrell in the second half starting five and the rest of the lineup remained the same. As has been their MO this season, the Tide started slowly and the lead was down to 55-45 with 16:30 left in the game. Holloway hit a long range jumper to push the lead back to 58-45. The Cats were doing much of their damage at the free throw line. The free attempts disparity was striking at 22 attempts to seven at this point. Allen showed toughness after getting a shot in his ankle to be able to return to play and hit a three with 13:10 left for a 63-49 lead. Holloway continued his sniping with another long ball and the lead was back tom16 at 66-50 with 12:05 left in the game.
Williamson, given a chance at more minutes with Sherrell down, starting flashing some of the ability that helped him win the Patriot League Player of the Year last season. The guy that has looked lost this season suddenly was grabbing rebounds, stealing balls, and making moves to score on a reverse layup. UK was able to hit enough shots, and continue to go the free throw line enough, to cut the lead to 79-70 with just over five minutes left. Philon loosened up and was starting to score in the lane on several occasions. With 3:20 left Holloway let go from 40 feet and hit nothing but net for a 84-70 score. Philon and Holloway added free throws and Williamson added a dunk to close out the 89-74 comfortable win.
Alabama cooled off to 14-34 in the second half with 5-16 from deep and 6-9 at the free throw line. Overall the Tide finished 31-67 for 46%, 15-38 for 40% from three, and 12-16 for 75% at the free throw line. Bama won the boards with 41, 14 offensively, had 17 assists, three blocks, eight steals, and had 10 turnovers. Holloway was player of the game with his second straight 26 point performance. The junior guard was an efficient 7-11 from the field with 6 of 8 from three point range. Holloway added five assists, four rebounds, and a steal. Philon totaled 17 points after his slow start despite being 0-6 from three point range, and added four rebounds, three assists, and three steals. Mallette finished with 14 points and five rebounds. Amari Allen won his obligatory Hard Hat Award with 11 points, nine rebounds (six offensive), three assists, and block and a steal. Williamson joined the quarter in double figure with 10 points and added four rebounds, two assists, two steals, and a block, all in a season high 18 minutes of action. Sherrell was only able to play nine minutes and contributed three points, three rebounds, two assists, and a blocked shot.
Kentucky hit 14-30 in the second period with 2-10 from three and made 10-14 free throws. Overall the Cats shot 25-59 for 42% and 4-19 from three point range while staying in the game with 20-29 at the free throw line. UK finished with 37 rebounds, nine assists, five blocks, six steals, and committed 12 turnovers. Owen with 22 and Lowe with 21 were the only two Cats in double figures. Dioubate scored six points and grabbed eight rebounds in his homecoming game.
This is a great start to conference play for the beat up Tide. The team has yet to have a full contingent of players for a single game this season. Philon and Allen played through painful injuries today and Sherrell was lost early on. After the game Oats said “Jemison isn’t anywhere close to 100%.” In Sherrell’s absence it was great to see Williamson contribute the way he did. Bol Bowen was dressed but was visually uncomfortable on his ankle as he tried to warm up. Philon’s thigh injury seemed to limit his explosiveness and deep shot. Allen is a dog that appears can and will play all out no matter what. Bristow has been hurt all year as well and isn’t near full strength. Two freshman, Davion Hannah and Collins Onyejiaka both look to be out of action long term, very possibly the rest of the season. And yet once again, this is the fourth straight time Oats team has defeated the bluest of blue bloods in the Wildcats.
Next up is a road trip to play the surprise team of the league, Vanderbilt. The 11th ranked Commodores are 14-0, 1-0 in conference. The game will be in the worst gym in the country, Memorial Gymnasium in Nashville on Wednesday January 7th at 8 p.m. CT. The game will be shown on ESPN2.
Roll Tide!
