TyTy Washington Jr. had 15 points, and Oscar Tshiebwe added 10 points and 15 rebounds to lead No. 5 Kentucky to a 66-55 victory over host Alabama in a Southeastern Conference game on Saturday in Tuscaloosa, Ala.
Daimion Collins had 10 points and six rebounds for the Wildcats (19-4, 8-2 SEC), who have won four in a row and eight of their past nine contests.
Kentucky, which also got 10 points from Keion Brooks Jr. and Kellan Grady, shot 40 percent (24-for-60) from the field, including 36.4 percent (4-for-11) from 3-point-range.
Charles Bediako scored a team-high 12 points on 4-for-4 shooting to go along with eight rebounds for Alabama (14-9, 4-6), which has dropped three of its past four games.
The Crimson Tide struggled offensively for much of the night, as they shot 28.1 percent (18-for-64) from the field, including an abysmal 10 percent (3-for-30) from beyond the arc. They also went 16-for-24 (66.7 percent) from the free-throw line, while Kentucky made 14 of its 19 attempts (73.7 percent) from the charity stripe.
After Alabama pulled to within 41-37 on James Rojas' two free throws with 14:15 left, the Crimson Tide didn't score for the next 4:40. The Wildcats took advantage, going on a 9-0 run to push the lead to 50-37 before Jaden Shackelford's two free throws with 9:35 remaining.
The Crimson Tide opened the second half by missing 16 of their first 19 shots, including all nine from 3-point range, enabling Kentucky to lead by as many as 17 points in the second half.
After Alabama jumped out to a 9-1 lead to start the game, Kentucky outplayed the Crimson Tide the rest of the half to take a 33-27 lead at intermission.
Kentucky shot 41.4 percent (12-for-29) from the field, including 33.3 percent (2-for-6) from 3-point range, and scored 12 points off Alabama's nine turnovers in the opening 20 minutes.
Alabama's struggles from the perimeter overshadowed their fast start. Keon Ellis scored six points on 2-for-4 shooting from beyond the arc, but the rest of the team shot a combined 0-for-12.
Alabama shot 33.3 percent (10-for-30) from the floor and missed five of its 10 attempts from the free-throw line in the first half.
--Field Level Media
Kentucky | Alabama | |
Tyty Washington Jr. 15 | Scoring | Charles Bediako 12 |
Sahvir Wheeler 7 | Assists | Jahvon Quinerly 4 |
Oscar Tshiebwe 15 | Rebounds | Charles Bediako 8 |
Daimion Collins 6 | Free Throws Made | Charles Bediako 4 |
Oscar Tshiebwe 4 | Steals | Noah Gurley 2 |
Jacob Toppin 1 | Blocks | Charles Bediako 1 |