Coming off of a two game skid that saw them fall behind 9-0 to Auburn then 12-0 to Mizzou before joining the party, Alabama will look to get off to a better start at home today against Kentucky. Alabama should have a personnel advantage in this one, as the Wildcats are quite banged up:
The latest SEC injury report was posted Friday night, and UK guards Lamont Butler, Kerr Kriisa and Jaxson Robinson have all been ruled out of the game against the Crimson Tide. Butler, the Wildcats’ starting point guard, will miss his third consecutive game with a shoulder injury that was originally suffered in a victory over Texas A&M on Jan. 14. He played two games with that injury — including UK’s 102-97 loss to Alabama in Rupp Arena four days later — before sitting out three games, then returning to the court.
In no way does this mean the Wildcats are incapable of winning. They smoked a decent Vanderbilt team, that is currently projected in the NCAA field, by 21 points without Butler and Robinson on Wednesday. Guard Otega Oweh put up 20 points to lead the ‘Cats in that one. Oweh, Koby Brea, Travis Perry and Ansley Almonor combined to go 9-14 from three, so perimeter defense will be paramount. Forward Amari Williams also dominated the paint against Vandy with 17 points, six rebounds and four blocks.
Being that they have already played, I will refer you back to Erik’s excellent preview of the first matchup.
On paper, the thing the Wildcats do well is guard the perimeter. But even that’s a function of their height (about the same size as the Tide), bad college three-point shooting (which is getting worse every year after the line was moved back), and not facing many teams that rely on the three-ball. Teams are getting a ton of opportunities to let ‘er rip, even if they’re not a perimeter team though. MSU shot 40, Aggie 34, Gata 30, Bucknell 36 — the season low was 15 by Ohio State, who didn’t need to, because they dominated the post. And that’s been a feature of all of Kentucky’s losses (and most of their close wins). You can try to match them score-for-score from beyond they arc — because they’ll give you the look — or you can get after the glass to get your points. Again, because they’ll give you the look.
After decades of facing tenacious Wildcats defenses, with future NBA size and skill and physicality all over the floor, it’s odd to see a team as soft as this one in those Bluegrass jersey. They are, however, a smart team. The Wildcats start four seniors and a junior; three of their top five reserves are seniors. There’s a reason UK is 8th in the nation in turnover rate: they hang on to the ball with smart passing and crisp execution.
How to Watch
The game tips off at 5pm CT and will be televised on ESPN.
Prediction
If Alabama falls behind by several possessions in the opening minutes of a game for the third straight outing, this fanbase will lose its mind. Kentucky isn’t known as a defensive juggernaut but they have plenty of offensive firepower. Falling behind to a team that can continue to fire daggers throughout the afternoon wouldn’t be a great idea.
Until Wednesday night, Alabama had forged something of an identity as a road team. They have had a few well publicized sluggish efforts in Coleman this season, including a bad loss to Ole Miss and the LSU game that saw Mark Sears benched for the entire second half. Alabama can afford no such effort with Kentucky rolling in.
The good news is that, outside of the turnover bug returning with a vengeance, Alabama’s offense was quite explosive in Columbia. Vegas has Alabama favored by 10.5 which seems a bit high to me based on the way Alabama has played, even with Kentucky dealing with some injuries. The Tide has a great chance to get back in the win column, and it should be another fun, high scoring affair. Let’s call it Alabama 101, Kentucky 94.
Use this as your game thread as well.
Roll Tide.
