Big Blue Preview: Kentucky vs. Alabama
During Kentucky’s win over Texas A&M on Tuesday night at Rupp Arena, UK point guard Lamont Butler took a beating, seemingly injuring multiple body parts during certain portions of the game. However, Butler always fought his way back on the floor, and helped make big plays down the stretch as the eighth-ranked Cats held off the No. 11 Aggies.
UK head coach Mark Pope was not surprised by Butler’s ability to literally bounce back each time he was knocked down.
“He’s a winner. He’s a winner,” Pope said. “I actually said that in (the) staff (meeting) yesterday. And we’ve said it 100,000 times but it’s starting to hit even more different. We’ve been saying it, but now we all get to feel it, we all get to experience it, we get to witness it and we get to see it in real time and a bigger level than maybe we’ve seen before. He’s fun to coach. He’s going to keep battling, fighting. It’s probably not the end of him getting beat up a little bit.”
After beating consecutive ranked teams (Mississippi State and Texas A&M), the Cats faced yet another of the nation’s best teams on Saturday. This time, the opposition is provided by No. 4 Alabama. Pope admires the job that Crimson Tide head coach Nate Oats has done in Tuscaloosa.
“What Nate’s done at Alabama has been incredible,” Pope said. “He’s playing a fun style of basketball. They’re really tough to prepare for. Their pace is elite. They’re one of the fastest playing teams in the country. Their transition offense is incredible. They have the presumptive player of the year in the league (Mark Sears). They’re a terrific team.”
The game figures to be a high-scoring affair with a lot of three-point shots taken. Alabama leads the nation in scoring, averaging 89.5 points per game, while Kentucky is third in the country, scoring 88.7 points per contest. The Crimson Tide shoot 31.2 three-point shots per game, while the Cats hoist 27.7 attempts per game from behind the arc.
Alabama is 14-3 and 3-1 in the Southeastern Conference. The Tide lost to Ole Miss 64-54 on Tuesday night, snapping an eight-game winning streak. Kentucky is also 14-3 and 3-1 in league games.
Tipoff for Saturday’s game in Lexington is at noon ET and the game can be seen on ESPN.
Wildcats Pick Up Fifth Top-15 Win
Jaxson Robinson scored 15 of his 22 points in the first half as No. 8 Kentucky topped 11th-ranked Texas A&M 81-69 on Tuesday at Rupp Arena.
Andrew Carr had 13 points and Otega Oweh added 11 as Kentucky won its second straight game. The Cats made 24 of 52 (46.2 percent) from the field, including 9 of 27 (33.3 percent) from beyond the arc. Kentucky hit 24 of 31 at the line and outrebounded the Aggies 40-30.
Some additional notes from the game:
• The Cats improve to 5-0 this season against AP Top-15 opponents. The five wins against teams ranked inside the top 15 are the most in the country.
• Kentucky has won all 14 games this season when scoring at least 70 points.
• All nine Wildcats who played also scored.
• Kentucky won the rebounding 40-30, only the third time this season that TAMU has been outrebounded and the +10 margin is the largest vs. the Aggies this season.
• Texas A&M entered the game with an average margin of +9.9 per game.
• TAMU also has been dominant on the offensive boards and UK won second-chance points, 13-11.
• Kentucky had 19 assists on 24 made baskets, an assist rate of 79.2 percent.
• Kentucky won despite giving up a season-high 17 turnovers.
Another Top-10 Showdown
Saturday’s matchup between No. 4 Alabama and No. 8 Kentucky will mark the third straight top-15 matchup at home for the Wildcats (Florida, Texas A&M, Alabama). That is the first such instance UK has hosted three straight top-15 teams.
The game will also be the third straight regular-season matchup, home or away, against a top-15 ranked team (Mississippi State, Texas A&M, Alabama). Kentucky has previously faced top-15 teams three straight games in the regular season, four times in its history: 1956-57, 1973-74, 1984-85 and 1993-94. UK was 2-1 in those games in ’57, 0-3 in both ’74 and ’85 and 1-2 in ’94.
Kentucky is 5-0 against teams ranked inside of the top 15 of the AP poll this season. The Cats are the only team in the nation with five victories against top 15 opponents. Two of those victories have come within the friendly confines of Rupp Arena (Florida, Texas A&M), two came on neutral courts (Duke, Gonzaga), and one in a true road game (Mississippi State).
