Alabama's late-game 9-0 run killed Kentucky's chances at victory

Kentucky was in position to take down Alabama and rack up another ranked win at home. In a game that featured plenty of back-and-forth scoring with nearly 200 total points between the two squads, it was a tie-ball game with just a little over five minutes to go. A massive dunk from Brandon Garrison via a Lamont Butler assist knotted the score at 81-81.

But that was the closest Kentucky would get the rest of the way. Labaron Philon made a layup less than 10 seconds later, the first points of Alabama’s deadly 9-0 run that would prove to be the ultimate difference. Alabama wound up winning 102-97. Mouhamed Dioubate hit a free throw, Chris Youngblood drilled a three-pointer, and Philon nailed a shot from deep of his own to cap off the kill shot.

Now with just 2:55 left in the game, Kentucky suddenly found itself down by nine points and Mark Pope had no choice but to call a timeout. In hindsight, it was too little, too late.

“I felt like we were battling a lot of fatigue out there and I felt like we were battling some frustration,” Pope said of Alabama’s timely 9-0 run. “I felt like we were kind of patch-working lineups a little bit. We were really struggling to guard legal. It was just all of those things come together. It was a game of runs and there were so many big runs and mini runs and I think our guys were trying to stick, I felt like we were trying to really hang in this game.”

That fatigue could have come from having to play two non-100 percent players heavy minutes. Lamont Butler was a game-time decision due to the various bumps and bruises he endured earlier this week against Texas A&M. Andrew Carr has been on the Availability Report for the last three games now due to a back injury. He struggled against Alabama far more than he did in the previous two outings. Butler and Carr played 32 and 19 minutes, respectively.

Alabama had four different scoring runs of 9-0, but none were more deflating than the last.

Foul trouble was also an issue for the ‘Cats, making defense tough and causing even more unusual lineup combinations. Two Kentucky players ended up fouling out while three more finished with four fouls.

“We would tie the game up or get up, and then we would go down there and get a ticky-tack foul,” Sophomore center Brandon Garrison said. “I feel like really hurt us today. Just going in practice, stop doing all that fouling, and learn from it.”

Kentucky and head coach Mark Pope have still exceeded expectations this season, but this was a winnable game that was lost down the stretch. Better to learn now than in March, though.

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