In our regular postgame feature, the Cats Illustrated staff offers its first impressions from No. 8 Kentucky's 102-97 loss to No. 4 Alabama on Saturday afternoon at Rupp Arena. Each staff member will share his three main takeaways from the game...
JEFF DRUMMOND:
1. We knew coming into this game that it was going to come down to who made shots. Alabama came up with more shots in key moments than UK did, and that was the difference.The Cats made five more field goals in the game, but the Crimson Tide had two more 3s and 13 more made free throws.
2. Alabama's Grant Nelson was a matchup problem for the Cats. He reached double-figures in the scoring column before the first media timeout and finished with 25 points and 11 rebounds. Nobody had a bigger impact on today's game, especially in terms of his ability to get to the line. He was 9-of-10 at the charity stripe.
3. Kentucky's inability to take advantage of its 3-point shooting is becoming something of a concern. The Cats wound up with 27 attempts, but many of those came in the final two or three minutes as they were desperately trying to get back in the game. When you promote Koby Brea as the greatest shooter in America, you can't have him coming out of a game like this 2-for-3 from the arc.
DAVID SISK:
1. I could watch Alabama/Kentucky play all day long. It had a beautiful flow until fouls started bogging things down in the second half. But there was still beautiful offensive design by both coaches. I don’t have the exact number, but there were around 90 possessions. Alabama is one of the few offensive teams that can keep coming at you in waves just like Kentucky does or more.
2. Alabama was able to play its game offensively even though Kentucky had a good early game plan. 34 paint points, 39 points via the 3, and 29 free throws. That accounted for 102 out of 102 points. There were no long 2s. Kentucky ended up shooting 27 three-pointers, but a lot of them got up late. Bama was able to run the Cats off the three-point line for a good part of the game.
3. Alabama is going to score a lot, but this hasn’t been the only game the opponent has put up big numbers. Florida scored 100, and Mississippi State put up 90. That is three teams out of five in SEC play who have scored at least 90. Alabama was more athletic in certain spots, and especially against certain lineups. Kentucky is going to run into more of that when they play Tennessee and Auburn for example. Mark Pope is going to have to figure out how to wade through those waters.
TRAVIS GRAF:
1. That was a very fun game of basketball. Kentucky showed that they could play with anyone today, but in the end they didn’t make enough winning plays when Alabama did. It was a back-and-forth game until the last 10 when Kentucky shot themselves in the foot while the Tide made big plays.
2. Kentucky is going to struggle with athletic 4s all season long. They did a better job on him in the second half, but Kentucky had no answer for Grant Nelson’s athleticism in the first half. It wasn’t a lack of game-planning, but a lack of personnel to match up with him.
3. Kentucky’s shooters were run off the 3-point line effectively, and that took them out of the game for extended periods of time. Robinson and Brea in particular had quiet stretches and they also struggled with Bama’s speed defensively.