The Alabama Crimson Tide played one of its best games of the season after two straight losses in SEC play.
Unfortunately, that’s not always enough against the Kentucky Wildcats.
The No. 2 Wildcats handed the Tide its third straight SEC loss on Saturday afternoon in Rupp Arena, winning by a score of 77-71. The win was Kentucky’s 47th in a row at home.
“You had two teams going out there that really battled and fought hard,” Alabama head coach Anthony Grant said. “I thought our guys certainly gave the effort and played with the passion that, as a coach, you want to see. Unfortunately, we weren’t able to make the plays that we needed to make down the stretch.”
It took clutch free throw shooting to seal the win for the Wildcats. Their last field goal came with 6:57 left in the game – a Terrence Jones jumper that gave Kentucky a 62-57 lead. But from there, Kentucky scored its remaining 15 points from the free throw line.
“It’s always frustrating to lose. We’re frustrated,” Alabama forward JaMychal Green said. “I thought we did a great job, but it just came down to defending. I really think the free throws won the game.”
Alabama trailed by two points three times in the final 1:07, but the Wildcats went 8-8 from the free throw line in that time. On Alabama’s last possession, Charles Hankerson’s jump shot was blocked by Kentucky freshman Anthony Davis, ensuring the Wildcat win.
Kentucky was able to get those free throws because the Tide played a physical game down low. Davis was held to just four points from the field and was frustrated all afternoon.
“It was very physical,” Davis said. “We were missing a lot of one-footers, dunks, layups. We had looks, we just weren’t finishing.”
Alabama outscored the Wildcats 30-28 in the paint and out-rebounded them 35-31.
“We just played the way we play,” Grant said. “[Kentucky is] a physical team in their own right. But we felt like we had to do our best to take away some of the strengths of their team.”
Alabama jumped out to a 5-1 lead in the early goings, but Kentucky went on a 7-0 run to take a lead it wouldn’t surrender for the rest of the game.
The Tide was able to hold its own, though. The most the Wildcats ever led by was eight, and any time they seemed to take control, Alabama was there to answer right back.
Sophomore Trevor Releford elevated his game when it mattered most – scoring all 17 of his points in the second half and hitting key shots to keep the game within reach.
“I think Trevor took what the defense gave him in the second half,” Grant said. “He was able to create some opportunities off the dribble when we had late clock or broken play situations.”
“My teammates, they found me when I was open, and I was just able to hit shots,” Releford said.
Despite the loss, the team was encouraged by its strong play against one of the top teams in the country and will look to continue the effort on Wednesday against the South Carolina Gamecocks.
“The last six minutes we played against Vandy, and the whole forty minutes we played against Kentucky,” Green said. “If we play like that for the rest of the season, we’ll be in good shape.”
