By Keith Taylor
Kentucky Today
Kentucky scored the first five points in its Southeastern Conference opener at Alabama on Saturday. From that point on it was all Crimson Tide.
No. 14 Alabama scored nine in a row after the initial proverbial punch by the Wildcats and rolled to an 89-74 victory, a record fourth consecutive triumph over the Wildcats. Second-year coach Mark Pope fell to 0-4 against the Crimson Tide.
Alabama (11-3) connected in 15 3 pointers and made 10 of those in the first half and built a 21-point lead in the first half. Kentucky (9-5) pulled to within nine at 79-70 late in the second half, but the hosts outscored the Wildcats 10-4 in the final four minutes for the final margin.
Aden Holloway led all scorers with 26 points and sank six 3-pointers. Labaron Philon followed Holloway with 17 points and made five shots from long range. Houston Mallette connected on four treys and finished with 14 points. Amari Allen added 11 for the Tide.
Alabama starting center Aiden Sherrell exited the game with a leg injury with 5:49 left in the first half and did not return. Noah Williamson entered in his place and had 10 points and four rebounds in 18 minutes.
Kentucky jumped out to an early 5-0 lead but didn’t lead again as Alabama responded with a 9-0 run. The first half was one of the worst offensive halves of Kentucky’s season, scoring just 34 points while shooting 38% from the field and 22% from the 3-point arc (4-for-19 with two treys each half).
Otega Oweh led Kentucky with 22 points and grabbed eight rebounds. Oweh, who has scored double figures in all 14 games this season, added three assists. Jaland Lowe came off the bench and scored 21 points. Paced by Lowe, Kentucky got 32 points from its bench.
Gametracker: Missouri at Kentucky 7 p.m., Wednesday. TV/Radio: ESPN2, UK Radio Network.