Kentucky basketball and Alabama made a case for one of the greatest games you will ever watch in college basketball… unless you’re a fan of defense.
The two SEC powerhouses combined for 212 points as the Wildcats posted a 117-95 win at the Rupp Arena.
Freshman Justin Edwards set a career-high 28 points in the win for Kentucky basketball with Antonio Reeves right behind him posting 24 points. It was a special day for Edwards as he made his first 10 shots from the floor. Rylan Griffen and Mark Sears each scored 20+ points for the Crimson Tide in what was an SEC thriller that left fans wanting a rematch in the SEC Tournament.
Takeaway #1: Kentucky’s offense has the potential to be the best in the country
The Wildcats offense this season has been second-to-none. John Calipari’s team has scored 100 or more points five times this season, and they have scored 90+ points in 14 out of 27 games to this point. Going against a team like Alabama isn’t easy, but Kentucky made it appear that way as five players were in double digits for points. Four of those five players posted 15+ points. This Wildcat group scored on 67% of their possessions against a top-15 team in the country.
Shots were being sunk left and right even when the Crimson Tide appeared to be playing strong defense. Kentucky shot 63% from the floor, 54% from behind the arc, and 85% from the foul line. Calipari might argue that his team could have executed offensive sets at a higher level, but there’s not much to complain about when your team puts up numbers like these. It was a well-rounded offensive performance for the Wildcats with 44 points coming from the paint and another 44 coming off the bench.
Takeaway #2: Alabama has to take better care of the basketball
While everyone knows that 95 points should be enough to win you a basketball game, it wasn’t on Saturday for Nate Oats and his team. Aside from the defense, the Crimson Tide turned the ball over 16 times with nine of them coming in the first half. You might get away with 16 turnovers against Vanderbilt or Missouri, but that won’t happen against Kentucky basketball. Alabama gave up 29 points from the 16 extra possessions it gave Kentucky.
When looking at Kentucky, they turned the ball over 10 times, the Crimson Tide scored 10 points off those turnovers. Had Alabama protected the ball better and gave it away less, the score differential would not have been as bad. Oats’ team still would have lost more than likely, but it would have been one big run away from having this game go down to the wire. Especially when this Crimson Tide team was once losing by as much as 37 points. If the deficit isn’t that large, this game could have been much better for Alabama.
Takeaway #3: Both defenses need to improve before the postseason
While everyone can appreciate what an incredible game this was just a few weeks before the conference tournament, neither of these teams will get far if they play defense as they did in this game. It’s hard to win basketball games conceding 95 points, much less when you give up 117. It would be reasonable to expect that both of these teams will work on closing down in practice on Monday and making sure the defenses are much tighter.
On the flip side, neither of these teams will see an offense as potent as each other until they either square off again in the SEC Tournament or possibly not until March Madness. Both the Crimson Tide and Wildcats still have a matchup with Tennessee, but the offense for the Volunteers isn’t as lethal. Alabama has Florida in its second-to-last game of the regular season though, which will be a high-scoring affair and give Oats and his coaching staff to right some of the wrongs.
Next Game for Kentucky: at Mississippi State (Feb. 27 – 7 p.m.)
Next Game for Alabama: at Ole Mis (Feb. 28 – 9 p.m.)