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Alabama Crimson Tide 55, Kentucky Wildcats 70: 21-0 Initial Impressions

Be happy, Wildcats fans. We stand alone in the ranks of the undefeated.

By Glenn Logan
Mark Zerof-USA TODAY Sports

This, ladies and gentlemen of the Big Blue Nation, is the kind of game we have been waiting for out of the Kentucky Wildcats offensively. Despite being undermanned with Trey Lyles out with an undisclosed illness, the Wildcats played efficiently on offense. Defensively, the were a bit below average. The intensity was there much of the time, but we saw too many mistakes that shouldn’t be happening at this point. There’s always going to be something to work on.

More: Roll Bama Roll

The Alabama Crimson Tide were also undermanned, missing Ricky Tarrant, their second leading scorer. Alabama played better than you might have thought, and they rebounded particularly well. Alabama is a team that doesn’t deserve to be in this position, but unfortunately, they just haven’t been able to win the close games, and that makes the games where they are likely to get beaten convincingly look just that much more futile. The Tide played hard, and as I predicted, were much more competitive in this game.

Final stats

Observations

  • Great ballhandling today. This was a great rebound from the high number of turnovers we saw in Columbia.

  • Too many times UK seemed to have their hands down on defense. They can do better.

  • We had a lot more aggression from the big guys today. That was welcome.

  • Interior passing was outstanding. If the ‘Cats continue improving in that area, there will be no stopping them.

  • Rebounding continues to be a problem, and that’s just baffling. Julius Randle is not walking through that door.

  • I just can’t be any happier for how well the offense executed. At times, it was beautiful to watch.

  • 14 assists on 28 makes is just great. You have to love that kind of ball sharing.

  • You can’t fault 47% from three. You can’t. That’s awesome.

  • Only 1 block. What happened to the blocks? That tells me there is a lack of intensity going on.

This was a good game, and we should be very happy with it. Yes, Alabama shot better than I think we would’ve liked, but the offense from Kentucky was just about the best that we have seen all season, and the Wildcats really needed to see how sharp their execution could be. Alabama was tough, but they were just not big enough, deep enough or talented enough.

21-0, baby, and the Virginia Cavaliers lost to Duke! Next up, the Georgia Bulldogs in Rupp Arena.

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