Recap
Kentucky Men’s Basketball Postgame
Rupp Arena At Central Bank Center | Lexington, Ky
Jan. 18, 2025
Attendance: 21,108
Final Score: No. 4/5 Alabama 102, No. 8/9 Kentucky 97
Team Records and Series Notes
- Kentucky is now 14-4, 3-2 in the Southeastern Conference. Alabama is 15-3 overall, 4-1 in league play.
- Kentucky leads the series 117-42.
- UK leads 60-12 in games played in Lexington.
- This marked the seventh time that UK and Alabama have met with both teams ranked in The Associated Press top 10, the first time since 1983. UK leads 4-3 in those games.
- Mark Pope is 201-112 as head coach, including 14-4 at Kentucky.
- Next for Kentucky: the Wildcats have a midweek open date before Saturday’s game at Vanderbilt. Game time is 2:30 p.m. ET (1:30 p.m. CT in Nashville) and it will be televised on ESPN.
Team Notes
- Today’s game marked the third straight home contest against a Top-15 team (also Florida and Texas A&M), the first time in school history that has happened.
- This marked the fifth time in school history that UK played three straight regular-season games against a Top-15 opponent.
- Alabama and Kentucky entered the game ranking first and third in the nation, respectively, in points per game. Averaging a combined 178.2 points entering today, the teams totaled 199 in today’s contest.
- This was Kentucky’s first home loss of the season after winning the first 11 at home.
- Seven Wildcats scored in double figures.
Player Notes
- Otega Oweh tied his season high with 21 points, the fourth time he has hit that mark. He has scored in double figures in every game this season.
- He had two steals, his sixth straight game with multiple thefts and 11th of the season.
- Lamont Butler had 17 points and tied his career high for assists with eight, the third game this season with eight.
- He has had at least seven assists in four of the five SEC games.
- He also tied a career best for blocked shots with two.
- Amari Williams nabbed 13 points and 11 rebounds, his fourth double-double of the season.
- Brandon Garrison collected 11 points, six rebounds and five assists in less than 19 minutes of action. It is his third double-figure scoring game of the season.
- Jaxson Robinson had 11 points, his third straight double-figure game and 13th of the season.
- Koby Breatossed in 10 points, including a pair of 3-pointers. He has made a 3-pointer in every game this season and 33-straight contests overall.
- He also had a career best for blocked shots with three.
- Ansley Almonor had his fourth double-figure game of the season with 10 points.
In the First Half
- Kentucky’s starters were Lamont Butler, Jaxson Robinson, Otega Oweh, Andrew Carrand Amari Williams. UK has a 12-4 record with this lineup.
- Koby Brea, Brandon Garrison and Travis Perry were the first substitutions at 15:41.
- Kentucky jumped out to a 7-2 lead but Alabama took the lead with 11 quick points, including a trio of 3-pointers.
- Both teams stayed hot, and midway through the half, the game was tied at 28.
- Trailing 40-37, Alabama closed the half on a 10-5 run and led 47-45 at intermission.
- Alabama’s Grant Nelson led all scorers with 19 points while Oweh and Williams paced Kentucky with eight each.
- UK is now 2-4 this season when trailing at halftime.
In the Second Half
- Kentucky began the second half with the starters.
- Trailing 58-56, Alabama took the lead with a 10-0 run.
- Kentucky eventually rallied to tie at 81 but Alabama took control with a 9-0 spurt and hung on to win the game.
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