By Keith Taylor
Kentucky Today
Kentucky couldn’t stop Mark Sears.
The Alabama guard scored 30 points to lead the fourth-ranked Crimson Tide to a 96-82 triumph over the No. 17 Wildcats Saturday night. The win snapped Alabama’s two-game losing streak and the Crimson Tide (22-5, 10-4 Southeastern Conference) completed a rare regular-season sweep of the Wildcats. Alabama last swept during the 2020-21 season.
Kentucky (18-9, 7-7) raced out to a 30-18 lead but the Crimson Tide used a massive run to take the lead and never trailed the remainder of the game. Alabama outscored the Wildcats 29-11 in the final 10 minutes of the first half that provided a momentum shift and put the Crimson Tide ahead for good.
The Wildcats narrowed a double-digit deficit to three twice late in the second half, but Alabama used an 8-0 run down the stretch to fend off shorthanded Kentucky.
Already shorthanded without veteran guards Lamont Butler (shoulder) and Jaxson Robinson (wrist), Kentucky’s leading scorer, Otega Oweh, finished with just two points and fouled out with 6:49 remaining. Averaging 16 points per game, Oweh made just one field goal in nine attempts, marking the first time he failed to reach double digits this season.
Koby Brea carried the load for the Wildcats and finished with 20 points, followed by Andrew Carr and Amari Williams with 17 points each. Travis Perry finished with a career-high 12 points.
Brea and Carr combined for seven of Kentucky’s nine 3-pointers. Brea reached the 20-point plateau for the fourth time this season and Williams recorded his ninth double-double with 11 rebounds to go with his final scoring tally.
Alabama forced 13 turnovers and scored 24 points off those miscues and Kentucky was limited to just six points in transition. Sears, a favorite for SEC Player of the Year, dished out four assists and made all 11 of his free throw attempts.
Aden Holloway made five 3-pointers and added 19 points for Alabama, which now has a school-record eight wins over Top 25 opponents this year.
Gametracker: Kentucky at Oklahoma, 9 p.m., Wednesday. TV/Radio: SEC Network, UK Radio Network.