Two years ago, just a few thousand fans at the Coleman Coliseum witnessed Alabama’s generational basketball team defeat Kentucky by an 11 margin.
It was one of many moments silenced by the pandemic, far from consciousness. even better The Crimson Tide team hosted the SEC Basketball Blue Bloods on Saturday. And the old airplane hangar was shaking at his two-hour demolition of the power plant on Saturday.
The Crimson Tide led with a staggering 31 points late in the second half as 78-52 Alabama won the preseason pick to win the SEC. With Nick Saban sitting at the baseline, the Coleman Coliseum crowd chanted “NIT, NIT, NIT” to the Kentucky team, who lost their fifth game of the year. Alabama’s win over Kentucky was the lopsided of his 157 matchups and the worst loss for the Wildcats since he lost 118-84 to Duke in 2018.
It was one of those days when even a random Alabama student scored a half-court shot during a TV timeout and earned a barbecue gift card.
Alabama (13-2-3-0) saw a regular crowd fill the scoring columns, but center Charles Bediaco did his dirty work inside. The seven-foot center received his Oscar standing ovation when he came out late after holding Zibwe to his season-low four points. The 6-foot-9 senior didn’t score until the 11:16 mark of the second half, as Alabama’s internal defense locked him out.
Kentucky manager John Calipari said, “He was declining on a few things, so Bediaco gave him a chance to block the shot instead of passing it.”And this guy has haunted him in the past. Let him go, he’s 7 feet, he’s long, they collapsed and I think he had to kick out, but we rattled.
Brandon Miller posted a game-high 12-of-19 after halftime when Mark Sears went 13-of-16.
It was an 11-point game at halftime before Alabama was off and sent the home crowd into a frenzy. A Jaden Bradley layup extended the lead to 20 at 5:30 in the first half and crossed the 30-point barrier 10 minutes later.
Kentucky slipped to 10-5, 1-2 in the SEC with the loss. Antonio Reeves had his 20 with the Wildcats.
Alabama blew the door on Coleman to open the day with an 11-2 run. After Noah made it 6-0 with his Clowney dunk, John his Calipari quick called his timeout, but the onslaught didn’t subside for a few more minutes. With the Wildcat defense ahead of center Bediaco, Alabama threw top for alley-oops and layups in the opening moments.
From there, the first half became a slogan of continuous shooting. After missing his first four shots, Miller had his 6:27 layup remaining to help kick start a slow but effective half-time finish.
Kentucky cut it to 21-19 before the Tide outscored the Wildcats 14-5 and closed the half. A Miller three-point shot and a Javon Quinally three-point play came in the final minute, and Alabama sent him to his locker room at 35–24. The Tide missed eight straight threes before Miller found just enough space to shoot one with 52 seconds left in the half.
Most of all, Oates was proud of how Alabama continued to build its lead after stalling with a big lead Tuesday against Ole Miss. The fact that Kentucky missed 52 of 73 shots created more chances.
Alabama also avoided double-digit turnovers for the second straight game. These nine of his freebies, worth two Kentucky baskets, were the defense Oates most admired. It’s thanks to Bediako and the rest of the swarming defenders that he was able to hold on to four when Tshiebwe was averaging nearly 17.
“His length causes Tshiebwe some problems,” Oates said. I was able to push it out to
Tshiebwe finished 1-for-7 with two foul shots from the field. Cayson Wallace, who finished in the top 10 in last year’s class, went 13-1 while missing all six of his 3-point shots.
Even more shocking was Kentucky’s 17-3 shooting layup percentage in the afternoon.
Michael Casagrande is a reporter for Alabama Media Group. follow him on twitter @ByCasagrande or Facebook.