No. 17 Kentucky men’s basketball (19-8, 9-5) crushed No. 13 Alabama (19-8, 11-3) on Saturday afternoon 117-95, reaching more than 100 points in a game for the fifth time this season.
Coming off a heart-breaking road loss to the unranked LSU Tigers three days prior, it seemed the game was an opportunity for Kentucky to take out its frustration and bounce back… and boy did it.
With the roaring Rupp Arena crowd behind them, the Wildcats, as a whole, managed to shoot 41-65 (63.1%) from the field and 13-24 (54.2%) from behind the three-point line, burying the Crimson Tide’s chance of flashing any offense of its own.
“This was a good win against a good team, by the way, a scoring team,” Kentucky head coach John Calipari said.
Heading into Rupp Arena, Alabama led the nation in points scored per game with 91 – Kentucky sat two spots behind it, averaging 87.6 points per game.
The offensive eruption was funded by Justin Edwards, who put up a career-high 28 points for Kentucky, shooting 10-10 from the field and 4-4 from deep, surpassing his highest scoring total of the season, which was 17 against Vanderbilt on Feb. 6.
Four other Kentucky players scored in double-digits as well, those being Antonio Reeves (24), Zvonimir Ivišić (18), Rob Dillingham (16) and Adou Thiero (12).
Ivišić, who only reached double digit points in a game twice this season, was destined to have a great showing as he played 20 minutes – his longest time recorded on the court all year long.
Since his poetic debut against Georgia on Jan. 20, where he put up 13 points, five rebounds and three blocks, the Croatian has struggled to score points and log minutes, but contributing 18 points on the No. 13 team in the nation could be enough to get the big man going.
Now, after the win, the Wildcats average 88.7 points per game, a 1.1 point increase, which still has them listed as the third highest scoring team in the nation.
“We got the youngest team in the country but we got a talented team,” Calipari said. “I’m not trading them for anybody, I believe in them.”
The offense for Kentucky has been firing from all cylinders all season long, and the performance presented inside of Rupp Arena on Saturday should be nothing but encouraging for Kentucky fans as the team continues to show its scoring domination as the postseason continues to inch closer and closer.
Kentucky will return to action on Tuesday, Feb. 27, inside Humphrey Coliseum in Starkville, Mississippi against Mississippi State.
