Kentucky tried to mount a great comeback the end of the game, but Tyler Herro’s somewhat open three-pointer did go through the basket and Alabama defeated the Wildcats 77-75 this afternoon in Tuscaloosa.
After a solid first half, Kentucky (10-3) went cold in the second half and couldn’t recover. For the first time since 2011, the Cats are 0-1 in the Southeastern Conference.
Tevin Mack led the Crimson Tide (10-3) with 22 points, including 6-for-6 from long range in the first half alone.
P.J. Washington paced Kentucky with 15 points and 7 rebounds. Keldon Johnson added 13 points and 7 boards. Three other Wildcats scored 12 points each.
Alabama out-rebounded Kentucky 40-32. The Wildcats were just 5-for-18 from long range in the game.
UK MEN’S BASKETBALL POSTGAME NOTES
KENTUCKY at ALABAMA
COLEMAN COLISEUM | TUSCALOOSA, ALA.
JAN. 5, 2019
ATTENDANCE: 12,424
Final Score: Alabama 77, No. 13/14 Kentucky 75
Team Records and Series Notes
· Kentucky fell to 10-3 on the season and 0-1 in Southeastern Conference play. Alabama improved to 10-3 and 1-0 to begin league play.
· In the 150th meeting between the two schools, UK’s series lead is still 112-38 over Alabama.
· The Wildcats’ win streak over Alabama was snapped at 10 games.
o Kentucky has still won 12 of the last 14 and 17 of the last 20 matchups over Alabama.
o UK is now 31-24 in Tuscaloosa, Alabama.
· Next for Kentucky: The Wildcats’ SEC home opener will be Tuesday vs. Texas A&M. That game will be televised on the SEC Network at 7 p.m. ET
o UK has won 48 regular-season SEC titles and five under Calipari
In the First Half
· Kentucky started Ashton Hagans, Tyler Herro, Keldon Johnson, PJ Washington and Reid Travis for the sixth time this season and fifth game in a row.
· Travis scored the Cats’ first two buckets of the game, one via hook shot and the other by way of a slam dunk.
· Both teams came out on fire. Alabama led 16-15 at the first media timeout (14:56 mark). At that point Alabama was 7 for 10 from the floor with two 3-pointers while UK was 7 for 9, making its lone trey attempt (Herro).
o Travis had six points during the run, including two dunks.
o All five of UK starters scored during the fast start.
· Travis had a solid first half. He was in double figures by the 9:38 mark and finished with 10 points and four rebounds in the first stanza.
· After Alabama took a 19-16 lead with an early barrage of 3-pointers, UK went on an 11-3 run to take a 27-22 lead heading into the under-8 timeout.
· Alabama took a 32-29 lead on an 8-0 run. Washington ended the run with a pair of free throws, but Tevin Mack answered with a 3.
· Mack was on fire in the first half. He torched the Cats for 20 first-half points – matching his season high – on 7-of-9 shooting, including 6 of 6 from 3-point range.
o He came into the game averaging 8.3 points while shooting 29.6 percent from 3-point range.
o He set his career high for 3-pointers in the first half alone. His previous high was five over a full game.
· Kentucky shot 50 percent in the first half and led 40-38 at halftime.
In the Second Half
· The Wildcats started the second half the same way it started the first: Hagans, Herro, Johnson, Washington and Travis.
· UK committed three charges in the opening minutes to aid an 8-0 Alabama run and fell behind 46-40.
· Immanuel Quickley stopped the 8-0 Alabama run with his second 3-pointer of the game to spark a 7-0 Kentucky streak.
· Alabama took methodical control of the game on the defensive end. The Crimson Tide limited UK to just five makes in its first 19 attempts in the second half. A 7-0 Alabama run increased the Crimson Tide’s lead to 61-53 before Nick Richards ended a 3:03 scoring drought with a free throw.
· UK fell behind by double digits, 68-58, after five straight points from Lewis.
· An inability to make shots in the second half was ultimately the deciding factor for Kentucky. The Wildcats made just 13 of 35 shots in the final 20 minutes, a handful of them coming late during a furious comeback.
· After falling behind by 11, UK made it interesting down the stretch with a suffocating full-court press in the final minutes. The Wildcats got as close one point after a steal by Hagans and a breakaway dunk by Washington. Alabama made 1 of 2 free throws, setting up for UK to tie or win the game. Herro got off a last-second 3-point attempt from straightaway at the buzzer but it caromed off the back of the rim.
· There were a total of nine ties and 10 lead changes.
Team Notes
· UK is now 8-2 in SEC openers under Calipari.
· The Wildcats are 93-44 in true road games under Calipari.
· UK scored 20 points off 17 Alabama turnovers.
o Seven of the turnovers were Kentucky steals.
· Kentucky blocked just one shot, a season low. The Wildcats had tallied four or more blocks in the previous 11 games.
· UK gave up seven Alabama dunks, all to Donta Hall (four) and Herbert Jones (three).
· The Wildcats surrendered 10 3-pointers, the fifth time this season they’ve allowed 10 or more treys.
Player Notes
· PJ Washington, led the Wildcats in scoring with 15 points. He also had a team-high-tying seven rebounds to go along with one steal and an assist.
· He has scored in double figures six times this season.
· He’s been the team’s rebounding leader seven times.
· Keldon Johnson, UK’s leading scorer for the season, scored 13 points and has reached double figures in all but one game this season. He also added game-high-tying seven boards, a career-high four assists and a career-high-tying three steals.
· He also had three steals against North Carolina.
· He’s hit at least one 3-pointer in seven straight.
· Ashton Hagans reached his career high in scoring for the second straight game, this time pouring in 12 points after tallying 11 against Louisville in the last game.
· He dished out six assists, one shy of his career high.
· He’s passed out three or more assists in 10 games this season, including each of the last seven.
· He added three steals and has corralled at least three steals in four games this season, including each of the last three games.
· Reid Travis finished the game with 12 points, six boards and an assist.
· He’s scored in double figures in 10 games this season.
· Immanuel Quickley chipped in with eight points and connected on a career-high-tying two 3-pointers.
· Tyler Herro was the fifth Wildcat to reach double-figure scoring with 12 points.
· He’s logged double-digit scoring in 10 games this season and has topped 10 or more in seven straight.
· He’s averaging 16.0 points per game during that stretch.
Calipari
· Calipari is now 285-67 at UK.
· Calipari has a 730-207 all-time on-court record.
· He is still 12 wins away from tying Joe B. Hall for the second-most victories by a UK head coach in program history.
· Calipari is now 15-4 all-time vs. Alabama and 14-3 as the coach at Kentucky.
· It was Calipari’s first loss to Alabama head coach Avery Johnson. Calipari’s record is now 7-1 vs. Johnson.
