Two years ago, only a few thousand Coleman Coliseum fans watched Alabama’s generational basketball team beat Kentucky by 11.
It was one of many muted moments from the pandemic that was far from consciousness when a even better The Crimson Tide team hosted the SEC basketball blue bloods on Saturday. And the old aircraft hangar was rocked on Saturday during a two-hour deconstruction of a power station.
Alabama’s 78-52 win over the preseason pick to win the SEC saw the Crimson Tide leading by a whopping 31 at the end of the second period. With Nick Saban sitting on the baseline, the Coleman Coliseum crowd chanted “NIT, NIT, NIT” as a Kentucky team lost its fifth game of the year. It was Alabama’s most lopsided win over Kentucky in 157 meetings and the Wildcats’ worst loss since a 118-84 loss to Duke in 2018.
It was one of those days when even the randomly selected Alabama student made a shot on the half court during a TV break for a BBQ gift card.
Alabama (13-2, 3-0) saw the usual crowd fill the score column while center Charles Bediako did the dirty work on the inside. The 7-foot center received a standing ovation when he came out late after holding reigning National Player of the Year Oscar Tshiebwe to a season-low four points. The 6-foot-9 senior didn’t score until 11:16 into the second half as Alabama’s home defense blocked him.
“He was fading on some things and that gave Bediako a chance to block shots instead of running through him,” Kentucky coach John Calipari said. And this guy has bothered him in the past. He is 7 feet tall. It is long. They fell apart and I think he needed to step down. But we got shaken up. »
Brandon Miller scored 12 of his 19, a post-half high, while Mark Sears had 13 of 16. Jahvon Quinerly also hit the double with 12.
It was an 11-point game at halftime before Alabama walked away and sent the home crowd into a frenzy. The lead reached 20 with a lay-up from Jaden Bradley at 5:30 a.m. before breaking the 30-point barrier 10 minutes later.
Kentucky slipped to 10-5, 1-2 in the SEC with the loss. Antonio Reeves had 20 for the Wildcats.
Alabama blew the gates off Coleman to open the day on an 11-2 run. John Calipari called a quick timeout after Noah Clowney’s dunk made it 6-0, but the onslaught didn’t subside for a few more minutes. With Wildcat center defense Bediako, Alabama was throwing the upper hand for allies or layups in the opening moments.
From there, the first half became a dry-shooting chore. Miller missed his first four shots before a layup with 6:27 left in the half helped kick off a slow but effective end to the half.
Kentucky cut the score to 21-19 before the Tide beat the Wildcats 14-5 to close out the half. Miller’s 3-point play and Jahvon Quinerly’s 3-point play in the final minute sent Alabama to the locker room with a 35-24 lead. The Tide had missed eight straight 3s before Miller found just enough room to fire one with 52 seconds left in the half.
More than anything, Oats was proud of how Alabama continued to build the lead after stalling with a big lead Tuesday against Ole Miss. He wanted to see a better defensive rebound, but Kentucky missing 52 of 73 shots created more opportunities.
Alabama also avoided double-digit turnovers for a second straight game. Those nine giveaways translated to just two hoops for Kentucky, but it was the defense that Oats praised the most. Keeping Tshiebwe to four points when he was averaging almost 17 points was an honor for Bediako and the rest of the teeming defenders.
“His length causes problems for Tshiebwe,” Oats said. “Tshiebwe is tough and physical, but he’s not as tall as Charles and he was able to fight his grip enough and push it away when he caught it.”
Tshiebwe finished 1 of 7 from the field with two foul shots. Cason Wallace, one of the top 10 rookies in the class last year, went 1 for 13 while missing all six 3-point shots.
Most astonishing was Kentucky’s 3-for-17 shooting success rate on an afternoon. Alabama’s defense made the statement Oats craved.
Michael Casagrande is a reporter for the Alabama Media Group. Follow him on Twitter @ByCasagrande Or on Facebook.
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