A banged up Kentucky squad traveled down to Tuscaloosa, Alabama, on Saturday, seeking revenge against the No. 4 Alabama Crimson Tide, a highly efficient squad that hung up a 102 points in a five-point victory over the Cats back in Rupp Arena on Jan. 18.
The Wildcats knew it would be a tall task, as, for the third straight game, they were forced to battle without Lamont Butler (shoulder) and Jaxson Robinson (wrist), two heavily reliable guards who are both in the midst of conquering their respective injuries.
Without the help of Butler and Robinson, along with a season-low performance from junior guard Otega Oweh, the Cats’ retaliation attempt came up short, losing 96-83.
Oweh, for the first time this season, failed to gather 10 points in a game, only contributing two points on 1-9 shooting from the field. The Oklahoma transfer’s season-low before Saturday was 10, reaching that number against Bucknell on Nov. 9 and against Arkansas on Feb. 1.
Kentucky has been a mysterious team this season, beating seven teams ranked in the top-15 of the AP poll, a program high, while losing to five unranked teams, all but two (Clemson, Ohio State) coming on the road against SEC opponents.
The Cats opened the curtain in Tuscaloosa with a significantly different start, jumping out to a 20-9 lead just over five minutes into the game. However, as seen in previous road games with Kentucky, its style of play failed to stay consistent, allowing Alabama to get settled in and adjust to the Cats’ gameplan.
“The game got a little Helter Skelter,” Head Coach Mark Pope said. “We got a little fatigued, you know we had some protection issues, we had some defensive issues that were hard.”
Pope’s reference to Helter Skelter, which is described as “in haste and confusion; in a disorderly, hurried manner,” according to Oxford Languages, was a realistic way of painting the picture when describing UK’s flaws on the court, as the team did indeed, at times, seem confused, disordered and rushed.
Kentucky permitted Nate Oats’ team to make more than half of its field-goal attempts (52.5%) while also giving the Tide 31 3-point opportunities, where it connected on 11 of them. Against a brawny, talented team like Alabama, allowing a ton of 3-point opportunities most likely won’t work in a team’s favor and, in this case, it didn’t.
“I think defensively, it was really where we struggled, especially late in the first half and then down the stretch,” Kentucky forward Andrew Carr said. “In the second half, we had a couple of really good chances and had some defensive lapses that really, you know, allowed them to stretch the lead.”
One of the biggest knocks on Kentucky has been its lack of toughness and ability to play defense, as the Cats currently sit 305th in the nation for points allowed per game, capitulating an average of 76.4 points per game. UK’s lack of stops ranks it behind mid-major schools like Mercer, Pepperdine and Eastern Washington, just to name a few, when it comes to the amount of points each team surrenders a night.
Kentucky looks to put an end to its road struggles on Wednesday night when it travels to Norman, Oklahoma, to face the Oklahoma Sooners (17-10, 4-10). The Cats can expect to handle some more difficulties on defense as Oklahoma forward Jalon Moore and guard Jeremiah Fears have torched numerous teams this season. Moore averages a team-high 17 points per night while Fears, a freshman, strings together an average of 15.9 points per game.
Tipoff for that SEC matchup is set for 9 p.m. ET and can be viewed on the SEC Network.