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Sluggish second half dooms Cats at Alabama

John Calipari - AP Photo

John Calipari – AP Photo

Nick Jacobs scored 14 points on 6-of-9 shooting and streaking beat 59-55 on Tuesday night for the Crimson Tide's fifth win in six games.  The Tide (12-6, 4-1 Southeastern Conference) held Kentucky (12-6, 3-2) to a season-low scoring total, 22 points below its average.

Levi Randolph and Trevor Releford each hit two free throws in the final 13 seconds to secure the win for Alabama, which had lost seven of the last eight meetings.

Releford had 13 points and Randolph added 11 for the Tide. Jacobs came in averaging 5.8 points a game.

 led Kentucky – which had won four of five games – with 14 points and seven rebounds.  had eight points, 13 rebounds and for the second straight game blocked seven shots.

The Wildcats shot 8 of 27 (30 percent) in the second half, managing just 22 points.

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On This Day In UK Basketball History

On March 28, 1992, in what many called the “best NCAA Tournament game ever,” Kentucky takes defending NCAA champion Duke into overtime before losing 104-103 in the East Regional finals in Philadelphia. A last-second shot by Christian Laettner sends Duke to the Final Four, and breaks the hearts of Wildcat fans everywhere. It is Cawood Ledford’s last game as the “Voice of the Wildcats.”

 

On March 28, 1998, against Stanford, Kentucky rallied from a 10-point second-half deficit, then grabbed a 5-point overtime lead, before fending off the Cardinals to advance to the title game for the third straight season. Jeff Sheppard canned three long-range three-pointers - two in the final three minutes and one in overtime - en route to a career-high 27 points.

 

On March 28, 2014, unranked Kentucky beat No. 5 Louisville 74-69, in the 2014 NCAA Tournament Sweet 16.  Aaron Harrison buried a three-pointer from the left corner with 39 seconds left that put UK ahead to stay before 41,072 in Lucas Oil Stadium.

 

On March 28, 2015, No. 1 Kentucky defeated No. 8 Notre Dame, 68-66, in the 2015 NCAA Tournament Elite Eight.  With its 37-0 record on the line, Kentucky trailed Notre Dame 59-53 with 6:14 left. UK rallied in front of 19,464 fans in Cleveland’s Quicken Loans Arena and preserved its perfect season thanks to a crucial blocked shot by Willie Cauley-Stein and two game-deciding free throws from Andrew Harrison in the final seconds.

 

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