Kentucky owns a stellar 5-0 record against teams ranked in the top 15 this season.
The No. 8 Wildcats look to make it six straight wins over top-flight competition when they face No. 4 Alabama on Saturday in Southeastern Conference play at Lexington, Ky.
Kentucky (14-3, 3-1 SEC) recorded a 95-90 road win over then-No. 14 Mississippi State on Saturday and followed up with an 81-69 home victory over No. 11 Texas A&M on Tuesday. The Wildcats defeated then-No. 6 Duke, then-No. 7 Gonzaga and then-No. 6 Florida earlier this season.
In the eyes of Kentucky coach Mark Pope, the Crimson Tide (14-3, 3-1) might be the toughest team his club has seen this season.
“They’re really tough to prepare for. Listen, every team in this league is impossible to prepare for, everyone is so good,” Pope said. “Everyone is really good and they pose different challenges. Alabama’s pace is elite. The metrics change almost every day, but they’re one of the fastest-playing teams in the country.”
The Crimson Tide ripped off eight straight victories before being stunned 74-64 at home by No. 21 Ole Miss on Tuesday.
Alabama sabotaged itself with 21 turnovers and 5-of-20 shooting from 3-point range.
“Obviously not one of our better showings, I have to give Ole Miss credit,” Crimson Tide coach Nate Oats said afterward. “They came ready on the road and we did not come ready. I’ve got to figure out how to do a better job making sure our guys are ready to go.”
Alabama had a season-low point total against Ole Miss but is still tied for the national lead with Iowa at 89.5 points per game. Kentucky is third at 88.7.
Despite the lofty season numbers on the offensive side, Oats was deeply irritated about the attack.
“I think we should all be pretty concerned, to be honest with you,” Oats said. “We’re not aggressive, other than on the rebounds. The guards didn’t come off attacking a switch like we tried to coach them to do. We’re not shooting the ball very well. But part of that is we’re not getting very good shots. I mean, we only shot 20 threes.”
Aden Holloway led the Crimson Tide with 15 points off the bench. Mark Sears had 11 but was just 2 of 8 from the field. Labaron Philon missed all eight of his shots and scored one point.
Sears leads Alabama with an 18.6 scoring average. Grant Nelson contributes 12.0 points and a team-best 8.6 rebounds.
For Kentucky, Jaxson Robinson put together stellar back-to-back outings of 27 and 22 points to fuel the latest victories. The 27 points and seven 3-pointers against Mississippi State were both season highs.
Robinson made five treys in the win over Texas A&M.
“We come in with the same mentality, regardless of who we’re playing, and we have bigger goals, trying to win championships,” Robinson said. “So, as far as just my confidence, I think my teammates and my coaches are doing a great job of just instilling it in me.”
Robinson played at BYU the past two seasons and followed Pope to Lexington after the latter was hired to replace John Calipari.
“I think it’s probably the most well-rounded I’ve seen him play,” Pope said of the two-game splurge.
Robinson is third in scoring (13.1) on the Wildcats behind Otega Oweh (15.4) and Lamont Butler (13.4).
The Crimson Tide have won four of the past nine meetings in the series after the Wildcats won the previous 10.
Kentucky rolled to a 117-95 home victory in last season’s lone meeting to improve to 60-11 at home against Alabama.
–Field Level Media
