KSR Gameday: No. 8 Kentucky hosts No. 4 Alabama in another ranked matchup

by:Zack Geoghegan•about 15 hours•

ZGeogheganKSR

Kentucky head coach Mark Pope and Alabama head coach Nate Oats - Left photo: Dr. Michael Huang, Kentucky Sports Radio; Right photo: © Erik Williams-Imagn Images

Good morning, folks! It’s almost time for another ranked SEC matchup. Today’s foe will be the No. 4 Alabama Crimson Tide, which shares a matching 14-3 (3-1 SEC) record with the No. 8 Kentucky Wildcats. This will mark the Wildcats’ third straight game against a Top 15 opponent and the fourth in the last five games. Kentucky has still yet to lose to a ranked team this season (5-0). Will that continue after today’s matinee in Lexington?

The Wildcats will enter as the slight favorite. FanDuel has Kentucky favored by 1.5 points as of this morning while KenPom predicts a 90-88 win for the ‘Cats. We’ll expect a high-scoring, fast-paced battle that could come down to the very last possession. These are two of the 10 most potent and efficient offenses in the country. Threes will be flying from all over the place.

Alabama comes to Rupp Arena with something to prove. The Tide were riding a seven-game winning streak before getting tripped up (and that’s putting it nicely) earlier this week at home against No. 21 Ole Miss. The Rebels’ defense shut down Alabama’s offense, holding them to a season-low 64 points. Nate Oats‘ team shot just 5-20 from deep against Ole Miss. Three-point shooting has not been Alabama’s strong suit this season and Kentucky (one of the country’s best at defending the three) should look to take advantage of that today.

Guards Mark Sears (18.6 PPG) and Aden Holloway (11.1 PPG) will be a thorn in Mark Pope‘s side on offense. Grant Nelson‘s floor-spacing and rebounding at the power forward position are huge for this team. Alabama’s bigs are talented but mostly stick to scoring at the rim. Chris Youngblood (28.3 percent from long range on the season) and Labaron Philon (26.8 percent) will be encouraged to fire from deep. Offensive rebounding will once again play a factor in this game. The Tide rank 19th in the country with an offensive rebounding percentage of 37.3.

Kentucky could be without a couple of key starters in today’s game. Point guard Lamont Butler is listed as questionable while power forward Andrew Carr is probable, the SEC announced last night. That being said, it’s not a shock to see either on the initial Availability Report. Butler was getting beat up all night in UK’s last win over Texas A&M while Carr has been dealing with a back issue for a couple of games now. We won’t know for sure if they’re playing or not until we get closer to tipoff, but it would be a bit shocking if they sat out for this huge of a game.

Tipoff is set for noon EST on ESPN. Another Quad 1 opportunity awaits. Let’s have a great day.

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Kentucky vs. Alabama: How to Watch, Listen

Time: 12 p.m. ET
Television: ESPN (Jay Bilas, Dan Shulman)
Home Radio: UK Sports Network – 630 WLAP, iHeart Radio (Tom Leach, Goose Givens)
Online Radio: iHeart
Satellite Radio: Sirius 106 or 190
Live Stats: StatBroadcast

You can also follow the game via our new LIVE BLOG on the website, which will begin an hour before tip-off, or join the conversation on KSBoard.

Gymnastics opens SEC play with Top 5 victory

Rupp Arena isn’t the only building housing a Top 10 matchup between Kentucky and Alabama. Memorial Coliseum got in on the fun too last night as No. 8 Kentucky gymnastics posted a season-high 197.300 team score in a win over No. 3 Alabama. It was the gymnastics team’s soft opening of Memorial Coliseum, where nearly 5,000 fans showed up to cheer on the Wildcats.

“It was absolutely amazing. BBN really showed out tonight,” Fifth-year star Isabella Magnelli said. “This place was packed and it was so loud. The energy was amazing. Memorial feels like home. Just to be able to be back, it just makes me happy and makes me emotional in a good way.”

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Kentucky, which is now 3-1 on the season after going 2-1 last weekend in Oklahoma City against a trio of ranked opponents, scored 49.275 or better in every event against the Crimson Tide. The only event Alabama won was vault. Sophomore Delaynee Rodriguez tied for first in the all-around competition with Alabama’s Lilly Hudson, earning a 39.450.

Something about HMC and winning…. 😸✨ pic.twitter.com/Hdvp7dBxiU
— Kentucky Athletics (@UKAthletics) January 18, 2025

Caleb Wilson has a decision date

Five-star Kentucky target Caleb Wilson is ready to make his college commitment. We’ll know next week whether or not the 6-foot-9 forward is a future Wildcat or not.

“I’ll be committing next Thursday (January 23), it’ll be on a huge platform. I’m really excited for it,” Wilson said Friday on the 247Sports College Basketball Show with Adam Finkelstein. “My final three will be Ohio State, Kentucky, and UNC.”

Wilson, ranked No. 5 overall in the class of 2025, is believed to be down to just Kentucky and North Carolina — sorry, Ohio State. The Wildcats appeared to be trending as the favorites for the last couple of months, but the Tar Heels have reportedly made things interesting coming down the home stretch. Can Pope pull it off?

A halfcourt buzzer-beater in the 1st Region

In a 1st Region Friday night battle, a beyond halfcourt buzzer-beater from Ballard Memorial junior Ike Miller earned his team a 54-53 victory over St. Mary. With barely any time left on the clock, Miller received the inbound pass, immediately turned around, and flung up a separation heave that banked right in.

Miller finished with 16 points, but those final three were the biggest. Ballard Memorial advances to the Region 1 All “A” Classic finals.