No. 8 Kentucky vs. No. 4 Alabama: Preview, Odds & How to Watch
First, it was the No. 14 team in the country on the road. Then, it was the No. 11 team in the country at home. Now, it’s the No. 4 team in the country at home, the longest streak of top-15 opponents for Kentucky since 1993-94. This one happens to be the top-ranked team on the schedule for the Wildcats up to this point, the other top-10 foes being Duke (No. 6), Florida (No. 6) and Gonzaga (No. 7).
Can Mark Pope and his group go 6-0 against top-15 competition? KSR has everything you need to know about Nate Oats and the Alabama Crimson Tide.
Kentucky vs. Alabama: How to Watch, Listen
Time: 12 p.m. ET
Television: ESPN (Jay Bilas, Dan Shulman)
Home Radio: UK Sports Network – 630 WLAP, iHeart Radio (Tom Leach, Goose Givens)
Online Radio: iHeart
Satellite Radio: Sirius 106 or 190
Live Stats: StatBroadcast
You can also follow the game via our new LIVE BLOG on the website, which will begin an hour before tip-off, or join the conversation on KSBoard.
Early season rewind
Kentucky: KenPom 16
11/4: 103-62 W vs. Wright State
11/9: 100-72 W vs. Bucknell
11/12: 77-72 W vs. No. 6 Duke
11/19: 97-68 W vs. Lipscomb
11/22: 108-59 W vs. Jackson State
11/26: 87-68 W vs. Western Kentucky
11/29: 105-76 W vs. Georgia State
12/3: 70-66 L at Clemson
12/7: 90-89 W OT vs. No. 7 Gonzaga
12/11: 78-67 W vs. Colgate
12/14: 93-85 W vs. Louisville
12/21: 85-65 L vs. Ohio State
12/31: 88-54 W vs. Brown
1/4: 106-100 W vs. No. 6 Florida
1/7: 82-69 L at Georgia
1/11: 95-90 W at No. 14 Mississippi State
1/14: 81-69 W vs. No. 11 Texas A&M
Alabama: KenPom 9
11/4: 110-54 W vs. UNC Asheville
11/8: 88-79 W vs. Arkansas State
11/11: 72-64 W vs. McNeese State
11/15: 87-78 L at Purdue
11/20: 100-87 W vs. No. 25 Illinois
11/26: 85-80 OT W vs. No. 6 Houston
11/27: 95-90 W vs. Rutgers
11/30: 83-81 L vs. Oregon
12/4: 94-79 W at No. 20 North Carolina
12/14: 83-75 W vs. Creighton
12/18: 97-90 W at North Dakota
12/22: 81-54 W vs. Kent State
12/29: 105-82 W vs. South Dakota State
1/4: 107-79 W vs. No. 12 Oklahoma
1/8: 88-68 W at South Carolina
1/11: 94-88 W at No. 10 Texas A&M
1/14: 74-64 L vs. No. 21 Ole Miss
Series History
Kentucky leads the all-time series 117-41 including a 60-11 record at home against Alabama. The Wildcats won the lone matchup in 2023-24, the team’s best high-major scoring output on the year in a 117-95 win over the Tide inside Rupp Arena. That was the Justin Edwards game with the former five-star recruit going for a career-high 28 points on a perfect 10-10 shooting night. Antonio Reeves wasn’t far behind with 24 while Zvonimir Ivisic and Rob Dillingham added 18 and 16 apiece off the bench, respectively.
Nate Oats, in his sixth season at Alabama, is 3-5 against the Wildcats overall including his time at Buffalo while Mark Pope is set to take on the Crimson Tide for the first time.
Kentucky vs. Alabama Odds
Spread: Kentucky -2.5
Total: 178.5
KenPom and Bart Torvik both project wins for UK, the former going with a 90-89 victory and the latter rolling with a 93-92 final score — about as close as you can get. ESPN’s BPI likes the Wildcats by 0.6 points while giving the home team a 52.3 percent chance to pull off the win.
Kentucky Projected Starters
#1 – Lamont Butler
6-2 – 208 – GUARD – GRADUATE STUDENT
13.4 PPG, 4.7 APG, 2.9 RPG
#00 – Otega Oweh
6-4 – 215 – GUARD – JUNIOR
15.4 PPG, 4.0 RPG, 1.7 SPG
#2 – Jaxson Robinson
6-6 – 192 – GUARD – GRADUATE STUDENT
13.1 PPG, 3.9 RPG, 1.8 APG
#7 – Andrew Carr
6-11 – 235 – FORWARD – GRADUATE STUDENT
11.4 PPG, 5.8 RPG, 2.4 APG
#22 – Amari Williams
7-0 – 262 – CENTER – GRADUATE STUDENT
9.8 PPG, 8.6 RPG, 1.5 BPG
Alabama Projected Starters
#1 – Mark Sears
6-1 – 190 – GUARD – SENIOR
18.6 PPG, 3.1 RPG, 4.5 APG
#0 – Labaron Philon
6-4 – 177 – GUARD – FRESHMAN
11.4 PPG, 3.7 RPG, 3.8 APG
#15 – Jarin Stevenson
6-11 – 215 – FORWARD – 215
4.9 PPG, 3.6 RPG, 0.9 APG
#4 – Grant Nelson
6-11 – 230 – FORWARD – SENIOR
12.0 PPG, 8.6 RPG, 1.7 APG
#11 – Cliff Omoruyi
6-11 – 250 – CENTER – SENIOR
7.1 PPG, 6.1 RPG, 1.1 BPG
Statistical Comparison
(via Kentucky’s game notes)
Interesting stats from UK’s game notes:
Kentucky will face its third consecutive top-15 opponent at home when it takes on Alabama, marking the first time in program history UK has hosted three straight top-15 teams
Saturday’s matchup is the third consecutive regular season game overall for Kentucky, home or away, against a top-15 opponent (Mississippi State, Texas A&M, Alabama). UK has faced top-15 teams three straight times on four occasions in its history: 1956-57, 1973-74 and 1993-94.
The Wildcats are 5-0 against teams ranked inside the top-15 of the AP Poll this season, making them the only team in the nation with five victories against top-15 opponents
Jaxson Robinson has combined for 49 points in Kentucky’s last two games, the most in a two-game stretch of his collegiate career.
Pregame Storylines
A BATTLE OF OFFENSIVE JUGGERNAUTS
It’s the No. 1 scoring offense in Alabama vs. the No. 3 scoring offense in Kentucky, the No. 2 team in offensive efficiency in the Cats vs. the No. 7 team in offensive efficiency in the Tide. They’re both ranked inside the top 30 in tempo, as well. This game features the highest over/under total for either team in over 25 years with that set at 178.5 points. UK has five players averaging double figures, plus a sixth scoring 9.8 points per game. Bama has five, as well, with a sixth scoring 8.1 points per contest. If there was ever a game to expect a ton of scoring and shooting, it’s this one — under bettors beware.
BRINGING THE REIGNING SEC PLAYER OF THE YEAR BACK
If you don’t know Mark Sears, you’ve been living under a rock the past couple of years. A superstar at Ohio averaging nearly 20 points per contest, he transferred to Alabama for his junior campaign where he averaged 12.5 PPG, then exploded as a senior averaging 21.5 points on 51/44/86 splits as a consensus All-American and SEC Player of the Year. With one season of eligibility remaining, Sears decided to return for a final run with the Tide where he’s currently averaging 18.6 points, 4.5 assists, 3.1 rebounds and 1.2 steals per contest. He’s a serious scoring threat rivaled by very few in college — undoubtedly at the top of the scouting report for Kentucky.
NATE OATS IS LOOKING FOR A RESPONSE
Alabama took a double-digit home loss on the chin this week, falling to No. 21 Ole Miss by a final score of 74-64 — the worst scoring output of the season for the Tide. Oats was not happy, as you can imagine, calling it a ‘disaster’ after the fact before promising a bounce-back effort in Lexington this weekend. “Look, it’s not good to drop home games if you’re trying to win the league championship,” he said Friday. “We put ourselves in a hole and we’re gonna find out way to dig ourselves out of that hole, starting with a much better showing against Kentucky.”
NOT THE 3-POINT SPECIALISTS YOU MAY EXPECT
The Wildcats and Tide both rank inside the top 30 in 3-point makes per game with the former knocking down 10.1 (No. 28) and the latter hitting 10.0 (No. 30) each outing. Efficiency, though, is an issue for Oats’ group, knocking down just 32.0 percent on the year from three, good for No. 275 in the country. The volume is there, averaging 31.2 attempts per game (No. 8 nationally), but they’ve failed to break the 35 percent mark in 11 of 17 of their games. Individually, Latrell Wrightsell Jr. — who hasn’t played since Nov. 30 — is the only player on the team with at least 20 attempts shooting better than 40 percent from deep.
YET ANOTHER ELITE OFFENSIVE REBOUNDING TEAM
“In the last five games, they’ve been the No. 1 offensive rebounding team in the country, which is so great, isn’t it?” Pope said of the Tide — just to get a taste of where his mind is entering this one. Alabama ranks No. 2 nationally in defensive rebounding, No. 3 in rebounding average and No. 13 in offensive rebounding overall, nevermind those recent numbers since the turn of the new year. Kentucky has done a remarkable job on the glass at Mississippi State and vs. Texas A&M, but can the Wildcats respond once again against the top-ranked team on the schedule up to this point? They have no choice if they want to win.
Join The Discussion on KSBoard
Want to interact with the KSR crew during the game? Consider joining the conversation on KSBoard, where we’ll be sharing live updates as your eyes and ears inside Rupp Arena while also answering questions and providing real-time analysis (and probably complaining about the officiating).
New members can get KSR+ for seven days for just $1.
Rapid Reaction on the KSR YouTube Channel
Miss the game? KSR’s got you covered with a Rapid Reaction live on the KSR YouTube Channel. We’ll also have wall-to-wall postgame coverage on the website, including highlights, comments from Mark Pope and the players, stats, and takeaways.
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