National Basketball Association
Alabama 77, Kentucky 75
When: 1:00 PM ET, Saturday, January 5, 2019
Where: Coleman Coliseum, Tuscaloosa, Alabama
Officials:
# Chuck Jones, # Brian Shey, # Doug Shows
Attendance:
12424
By Field Level Media
Alabama opened Southeastern Conference play Saturday with a 77-75 upset of No. 13 Kentucky at Coleman Coliseum in Tuscaloosa, Ala. It was only the Tide's 38th win in 150 games in the series, and Alabama snapped a 10-game losing streak to Kentucky.
Alabama (10-3, 1-0 SEC) won the game despite a furious comeback attempt by Kentucky (10-3, 0-1) in the closing minutes.
Trailing 72-61 with 3:04 remaining, Kentucky outscored Alabama 14-4 down the stretch and would have won the game had Tyler Herro's 3-pointer at the buzzer not rimmed out.
PJ Washington and Ashton Hagans each scored four points and Herro and Keldon Johnson each made a 3-pointer during the run, but Kentucky was unable to close the deal. A pair of free throws by Dazon Ingram with 23 seconds left and one by John Petty with :05 on the clock kept Alabama on top.
Alabama put five players in double figures, topped by Tevin Mack with 22. Next came Kira Lewis with 12, Donta Hall and Ingram with 11 and Herbert Jones with 10.
The Tide shot 45.8 percent for the game, but won the rebounding battle 40-32 after trailing 15-5 early on.
Kentucky also placed five players in double figures, topped by Washington with 15. Johnson scored 13, while Hagans, Herro and Reid Travis had 12.
The Wildcats were undone by poor second-half shooting, finishing at 37.1 percent and only 43.1 for the game. Kentucky shot 27.8 from 3-point range.
Alabama won the game midway through the second half. Leading 54-53 with 10:47 to play, Alabama went on a 14-5 run to build its biggest lead of the day at 68-58 with 4:57 to go. Lewis had five points, Ingram added four in that stretch. Alabama pushed the lead to 11 points at 72-61 before Kentucky made its late charge.
The first half was the Mack show for Alabama. The Texas transfer scored 20 points in the first half, including 6-for-6 from 3-point range despite being a 29 percent shooter on the year.
--Field Level Media
Top Game Performances
| Kentucky |
|
Alabama |
|
PJ Washington 15 |
Scoring |
Tevin Mack 22 |
|
Ashton Hagans 6 |
Assists |
Herbert Jones 6 |
|
Keldon Johnson 7 |
Rebounds |
Donta Hall 10 |
|
PJ Washington 7 |
Free Throws Made |
Dazon Ingram 6 |
|
Ashton Hagans 3 |
Steals |
Avery Johnson Jr. 1 |
|
Nick Richards 1 |
Blocks |
John Petty 2 |
Team Stats Summary
| Team |
Points |
FG% |
3PM-3PA |
FTM-FTA |
Assists |
Rebounds |
Blocks |
Steals |
Turnovers |
| Kentucky
|
75 |
43.1 |
5-18 |
14-17 |
14 |
31 |
1 |
7 |
11 |
| Alabama
|
77 |
45.8 |
10-23 |
13-17 |
14 |
39 |
4 |
2 |
17 |
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