Kentucky sees long-term wins in short-term blowout loss at Alabama

Kentucky had it rolling to get things started in Tuscaloosa. In an up-and-down track meet from the opening tip, the Wildcats saw four 3-pointers fall in the opening segment before taking an 11-point lead just over five minutes in. After a quick punch back from Alabama to cut it to four at the second TV timeout, you saw a bigger response from the double-digit road underdogs, jumping back out to a 12-point lead with under ten minutes to go as air let out of Coleman Coliseum like a balloon.

There was so much to like. Nate Oats was furious talking about it after the game, wondering how such egregious errors could be made while questioning intensity, saying there would be ‘zero tolerance for effort and scouting report screw-ups.’

“I’m tired of the guys not being locked into a scouting report,” Oats said of his eight substitutions in the first six minutes.

You had an offensive juggernaut and title contender on the ropes on their home floor, really through an entire quarter of the game. No matter how shorthanded Kentucky was, the nine available scholarship players were stepping up in their respective roles to give the Wildcats a real shot, setting up an eighth potential win against a top-15 opponent right on time.

Then things unraveled, Alabama going on a 29-12 run to close out the first half and 35-14 overall to take an 11-point lead with 17:13 to go.

Life comes at you fast.

Kentucky did its best to not let the wheels fall off entirely, cutting it back to four just 84 seconds later and having it down to three with 11:20 left on the clock. You’re not sweating about being down four with 8:18 to go, either — until Alabama rattles off an 8-0 run to go up 12 at the 6:43 mark.

The Wildcats fought given the circumstances and put themselves in position to make a move, but the Crimson Tide just had a counter for every push until Mark Pope’s group simply ran out of gas. There was nothing left in the tank down the stretch as two players fouled out with a third walking on eggshells with four, allowing for that lead to spread to as many as 15 before closing out at 13.

Admittedly, there was a lot to be proud of in a game that saw Kentucky written off as double-digit underdogs going in. Down Lamont Butler and Jaxson Robinson with Alabama coming off a two-game losing streak — “Without calling it a must-win, we just couldn’t drop three in a row,” Oats said afterward — it would’ve been easy to let go of the rope and punt on short-term success until you were back at full strength, maybe even to the postseason. Instead, you got Koby Brea, Andrew Carr and Amari Williams combining for 54 points while Travis Perry kept his head above water in a clear drowning opportunity with 12 points and four steals in 28 minutes.

Brea launched 17 attempts overall and 10 from three (while passing up a few more) on his way to 20 points, one of the top scouting report mistakes for the Tide in Oats’ eyes — “He wasn’t supposed to get any up,” he said — while Carr had one of his best performances as a Wildcat. That one was convenient considering how things went in the first match, arguably his worst performance as a Wildcat while also getting cooked by Grant Nelson, who had nearly as many fouls (four) as points (five) this time around. Williams continued his streak of dominant play, a light 17-point, 11-rebound, six-assist day as he Sharpied his name into All-SEC honors. They were all very real positives while Perry made up for his shooting woes (1-7 from three) by earning tough buckets inside and staying active defensively while not turning it over a single time. You had a shot thanks to those four.

The issue was you didn’t get enough from the other five, combining for just 17 points with the team’s leading scorer, Otega Oweh, giving you just two points on 1-9 shooting and fouling out in 22 minutes. That ended his double-figure scoring streak at 26 games after hitting the mark every time out this season. He was called for some egregious ticky-tack fouls in a night of horrendous officiating, but Oweh was pressing even when he was available. Just the worst possible time for him to lay his first egg after such a consistently excellent year up to this point.

We don’t need to single out all of the individual player errors because there was plenty of blame to go around, even from the team’s top producers — Brea passed up on shots while Williams had four crucial turnovers, for instance. Rotations were a mess, too, putting some on the coaches as they navigate uncharted personnel waters. Then you factor in some big-picture head-scratchers such as Alabama losing the turnover battle 15-13, but winning the points-off-turnovers battle 24-11. Or a 23-6 difference in fastbreak points, 29-15 in bench points.

Point being, in a game where you have to play nearly perfect basketball to leave there with a win, they just didn’t have it.

Sometimes you just have to tip your hat to the reigning SEC Player of the Year for scoring 30 on 8-17 shooting — and the stripes for putting Mark Sears on the line for 11 free throws. Aden Holloway drilled five 3-pointers, tied for second-most this season, with four coming in the first half alone. He averages 2.3 makes from deep per game, unsurprisingly. Then you have Chris Youngblood hitting three 3-pointers after the break to really drive home that gotta-be-perfect point.

Stuff like this is unacceptable, too.

This ref just stopped the entire game just to stare down and follow Mark Pope

I mean wtf 😂😭 pic.twitter.com/Thtl9Am1Xc

— Barstool Kentucky (@BarstoolUK) February 23, 2025

Oh, and this, too.

pic.twitter.com/Dy4kU0I2ha

— Barstool Kentucky (@BarstoolUK) February 23, 2025

All contributors to the loss, no individual causes.

Where does Kentucky go from here as it falls to 18-9 overall and 7-7 in the league — a No. 9 seed in the SEC Tournament, as things stand leaving the weekend? Nothing is more important than getting healthy at this point, and fortunately, the Cats got good news this week on both Butler (shoulder) and Robinson (wrist). Their returns may not be imminent, but progress is being made and you can now see the light at the end of the tunnel regarding a complete team.

You wish Kentucky could stretch those first four minutes into 40, obviously. We certainly don’t do moral victories around here, but it was a valiant effort with backs against the wall and Alabama desperate for a win. Stealing that one would have been a game-changer, but at the end of the day, it does essentially nothing for your NCAA Tournament seeding while also stressing the importance of winning at Oklahoma and against LSU at home. Where the ball didn’t bounce the Wildcats’ way inside Coleman Coliseum, it did elsewhere in the league with No. 7 Texas A&M, No. 15 Missouri, No. 21 Mississippi State and No. 24 Ole Miss all taking losses sitting ahead in the standings. That helped you win the weekend even if you didn’t win the game.

You played this one with house money and lost it while giving your starting backcourt additional time to heal. In the short term, you lost a game you were projected to lose big while showing some real grit in a hostile environment. In the long term, your resume remains strong while you hold some aces in your back pocket with the second- and third-leading scorers working their way back to the lineup. Meanwhile, you’re getting valuable experience for guys like Perry, Collin Chandler and Trent Noah seeing expanded roles for the time being and producing in them. They’ll be ready when thrown into the fire now in the coming weeks, something that could not have been said earlier this year.

It’s okay to let this loss get under your skin and how it all came together while also acknowledging it’s not a total lost cause.