LEXINGTON, Ky. -- In a matchup billed as a shootout, Alabama and Kentucky lived up to the hype.

Both ranked teams piled up the points in bunches, but the No. 4 Crimson Tide made the key plays late in the game, pulling away for a 102-97 road win over the No. 8 Wildcats at a rowdy Rupp Arena.

Alabama, which was coming off a disappointing 74-64 home loss to Ole Miss earlier this week, rediscovered its explosive offensive arsenal to win in a city where it has departed with only 12 victories in 72 trips.

"Couldn't be more proud of the guys after the poor showing on Tuesday to bounce back and play the way we did here today," Alabama head coach Nate Oats said. "This is a really good team we beat."

The Crimson Tide (15-3, 4-1 SEC) shot 45% from the field, made 13 from beyond the arc, and knocked down 29 of its 34 free-throw attempts. Grad senior forward Grant Nelson scored a game-high 25 points and pulled down 11 rebounds, while grad senior guard Mark Sears added 24 points and nine assists.

"Great program, great team," Kentucky head coach Mark Pope said of Alabama. "They played really hard coming off a tough loss. They responded really well on the road.

"Proud of our guys. They fought but didn't execute as well as we'd like to."

Each time the Cats pulled close, the Crimson Tide seemed to have an answer.

“I was actually pretty amazed by the passes they were making," UK forward Ansley Almonor said. "I don’t know if they practiced that or that’s just natural. It was crazy to see. It was tough to play against them. They have really great players over there.”

In a game that featured six lead changes and saw neither team lead by double-figures, Alabama used a 9-0 run late in the second half to get separation.

The Cats' last hope for a comeback was drawing within four on an Almonor 3-pointer at the :28 mark, but the Tide's Sears hit three out of four free throws down the stretch to seal the victory.

"Losing's the worst," said a dejected Pope, whose team just completed an unprecedented run of three straight games at Rupp Arena against Top 15 opponents.

Kentucky (14-4, 3-2 SEC) lost despite putting seven players in double figures, including junior guard Oteha Oweh with a team-high 21. Lamont Butler added 17 points and eight assists and Amari Williams chipped in with 13 points and 11 rebounds, but it wasn't enough to keep pace with Alabama's stars.

*****

In this "Rapid Recap" feature, we touch on some quick-hitters from the UK loss...

KEY MOMENT:

After trailing between three and seven points for most of the second half, Kentucky rallied to tie the game at 81-81 with 5:13 remaining. Alabama, however, silenced the rowdy Rupp Arena crowd by reeling off the next nine points -- including 3-pointers by Labaron Philon and Chris Youngblood -- to regain control of the game. Both of those shots came after the Cats had stopped the Tide's first attempt but could not come up with the loose ball. Kentucky could get no closer than four the rest of the way.

GAME BALL:

Grant Nelson, Alabama -- The grad senior forward set the tone by scoring 10 of his game-high 25 points in the first 5:29 of the game. Nelson was 7-of-13 from the field, hit two 3-pointers, and made nine of 10 free throws. He also pulled down a game-high 11 rebounds for good measure.

BY THE NUMBERS:

1st - Time ever a Kentucky team has faced an opponent that shot 34 free throws and 34 3-pointers in a game.

3rd - Loss in history for the Wildcats when scoring at least 97 points in a home game. The other two were 1998 vs. Southwest Louisiana and 2008 vs. VMI.

4/5 - Times that UK has allowed 100-plus points to an SEC opponent at Rupp Arena have come in the last two seasons.

+5/-13 - Buckets from the field for the Cats, but deficit at the free-throw line.

117-42 - Kentucky's lead in the all-time series with Alabama. The Tide won for just the 12th time in 72 trips to Lexington.

21,108 - Attendance at Rupp Arena.

QUOTABLE:

"There was a lot of fouling, so we are going to work on that.” -- UK guard Otega Oweh on where the Cats came up short in the loss.

UP NEXT:

With no mid-week game scheduled for next week, Kentucky returns to action next Saturday at Vanderbilt in a 2:30 p.m. ET tipoff on ESPN2. The Commodores (14-3, 2-2 SEC) are playing Tennessee today in Nashville.