No. 13 Alabama falls at No. 17 Kentucky
No. 13 Alabama fell to No. 17 Kentucky, 117-95, Saturday afternoon at Rupp Arena. In absorbing its fifth road loss of the season, the Crimson Tide dropped to 19-8 (11-3 SEC) on the season.
HOW IT HAPPENED
Following a 3-pointer from Aaron Estrada, Alabama, playing without starting guard Latrell Wrightsell for the second straight game, led 22-17 with 13:37 remaining in the first half. The rest of the opening stanza was all UK, though, as seven 3-pointers, 13 assists and 16 points off UA turnovers helped the Wildcats rack up 41 points on their way to a 58-42 lead at intermission.
Meanwhile, after starting the contest by converting nine of its 11 field goal attempts, Alabama made seven of 18 shots from the field and committed nine turnovers in the 13 minutes that followed. Guards Estrada (nine), Rylan Griffen (12 points) and Mark Sears (nine) combined to produce 30 of UA’s points heading into the break.
Despite making five of its first eight field goal attempts to open the second half, UA saw the Kentucky lead swell to 74-54 with 15:15 remaining in the game when Justin Edwards made his fourth 3 in as many attempts.
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Edwards would go on to finish a perfect 10 for 10 from the field, spurring his team to a 37-point lead with 8:26 left. Between them, Edwards (28 points), Antonio Reeves (24), Rob Dillingham (16) and Zvonimir Ivisic (18) combined to score 86 points on 40 field goal attempts.
PLAYERS OF THE GAME
Griffen and Sears led the Crimson Tide in scoring, pouring in 21 and 20 points, respectively. Estrada and Grant Nelson finished with 13 points and seven rebounds apiece. All of UA’s bench scoring in the game came from forwards Mouhamed Dioubate (12 points) and Nick Pringle (11). Much of that came, though, after Edwards and Reeves inflicted serious damage to Alabama’s hopes of winning for the 20th time this season.
KEY STATS
In posting a historic point total, Kentucky shot 63.1 percent from the field and 54.2 percent from 3 (13 of 24). As for Alabama, it attempted 17 3s in the game, its lowest total of the season. The Crimson Tide held the edge in points in the paint, 56-44, but was outscored off turnovers, 29-10. Led by Ivisic and Dillingham, UK’s bench outscored Alabama’s, 44-23.
Up next for UA is a road game at Ole Miss on Wednesday at 8 p.m. CT (ESPN2).
