It has been nearly two weeks (11 days) since Kentucky played their final non-conference game of the regular season. Christmas, New Year’s, all of it came and gone since the last time you’ve seen the Wildcats take the court. That was the matchup was the 99-85 win against Bellarmine (December 23rd) at home.
As Kentucky looks dive into conference play, the Wildcats start off with a powerhouse matchup against No. 14 Alabama in Tuscaloosa. The Crimson Tide, led by head coach Nate Oats, are currently 10-3 overall heading into this matchup. Those three losses came against Purdue, Gonzaga, and Arizona — all of which are currently ranked in the top-seven of the AP rankings.
Through the first thirteen games of the season, Alabama is proving to be one of the top offensive teams in the country as they are averaging nearly 95 points per outing. This is significantly more when you compare it to Kentucky’s average of 85 points per game. If Kentucky doesn’t step on the defensive side of the ball and force the Tide to shoot shots they don’t want to, they could easily get outscored if they aren’t careful.
About 25% of Alabama’s offensive production is coming from a singular player and that is sophomore phenom, Labaron Philon Jr. He currently averages a whopping 22 points per game for Alabama, the most of either program.
Alabama has had their share of injuries this season just like Kentucky has, but thankfully the Wildcats are sitting with no active injuries for the first time this season. On the home team side of things, the Crimson Tide have a few players that are listed as either ‘Probable’ or ‘Questionable’ just under 24 hours from the game. Those include Labaron Philon (leg), London Jemison (knee), Davion Hannah (medical condition), Taylor Bol Bowen (not disclosed yet), and Latrell Wrightsell Jr. (not disclosed yet).
Now with all of that being said, I think there is a good chance that a few of these Alabama players give it a go tomorrow afternoon with it being the opening of SEC play. It will be something to keep an eye on to see how their minutes look like and even their productivity overall. It is always hard to beat a team on the road in the Southeastern Conference not matter who it is, but even more so in a rowdy environment like Coleman Coliseum.
The main objective Kentucky needs to establish is dominance on the boards. Rebounding will be huge in this game and Kentucky cannot afford to give up second-chance points in this matchup. Fortunately, the Wildcats will have former Alabama star Mo Dioubate on their side this time to help them accomplish that.
Mo Dioubate is the type of guy you recruit when you want “tough” on your team, according to Alabama’s Nate Oats who lost Dioubate to Kentucky in the portal just last season.
“Recruit a guy like Mo Dioubate in and you didn’t really have to coach him to be tough. He was tough,” said Oats.
What a full circle moment for the clash of these two programs in Tuscaloosa this weekend.
The now-Wildcat had 4 points, 5 rebounds, and 1 block in 14 minutes while wearing red last season when Kentucky visited, but this time he’ll look to carve out his former team that he knows the best of anyone. Sometimes players have big individual days when they return for their “homecoming games” so we shall see if that plays out into our favor or not. I know he’s at minimum fired up for the matchup.
Also, Kentucky needs players such as Kam Williams, Collin Chandler, and Jasper Johnson all to get going early from beyond the three-point line. Kentucky will not be able to get into a shooting match with the Crimson Tide so I am hoping to see the same defensive effort that I saw against St. John’s, including getting out early on the scoreboard.
It’s going to be a SEC battle, but unfortunately with everything said above, I think Kentucky falls short in this one. I’m predicting a final score of 85-82. Even with a projected loss, I look for Kentucky to still keep this game competitive and to build some internal momentum going into the rest of conference play.
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