Kentucky 35, Alabama 17: Second Half Live Thread

That was just about as good a first half as you’re ever likely to see on the road by any basketball team against a quality opponent. Kentucky has a way of making teams look vastly inferior to what they actually are, and that’s a hallmark of a great defensive basketball team.

First half stats

UK has been dominant on the glass too, outrebounding Bama 19-9. Box score: pic.twitter.com/7NvouqKfdT

— Kentucky Athletics (@UKAthletics) January 17, 2015

In Alabama’s defense, there’s almost nothing to be done against Kentucky when they play like this. They are so tough to score on that you have to take long threes to get clean looks, and even though Alabama can make some and did, they just can’t make enough. Kentucky is also shooting the jumpshot well, making 40% from the arc and shooting 52% from the field. To have a chance, you really have to hold them under 30% and under 50% respectively.

If Kentucky can keep this up, it will be a nice bookend to their bounce-back game versus the Missouri Tigers. But the game isn’t over yet, and the most irrelevant statistic in basketball is the halftime score.

Let’s get this done. Go, ‘Cats!