Saturday afternoon brought about one of the toughest road matchups for the Alabama Crimson Tide up to this point in the season, as the program hit the road to Rupp Arena in Lexington for a Top 10 showdown with the Kentucky Wildcats.
A significant road test for Alabama coming off the home loss to Ole Miss, the Crimson Tide were certainly tested in this contest as well, eventually coming away with an impressive 102-97 win.
This game pitted the nation’s top two scoring teams against one another, with the matchup certainly living up to the hype that it garnered entering the day, as both teams went back-and-forth on the scoreboard for 40 minutes.
Here are some instant reactions to Alabama’s massive bounce-back victory at Kentucky:
Alabama’s late run impactful
In a game full of massive shots made, there were likely few for the Crimson Tide bigger than what happened late in the game via a pair of made three’s from Chris Youngblood and Labaron Philon. This build Alabama’s lead at the time to nine, and was later followed by three clutch free throws from Mark Sears.
Grant Nelson shines for Alabama
Especially early on during the contest, there was no secret as to who the most impactful player on the court was Saturday afternoon, and that was Alabama forward Grant Nelson. Nelson finished the game with a combined stat line of a game-high 25 points and 11 rebounds to post a double-double, while also going 9-of-10 from the free throw line, and was a big reason as to why Alabama won.
Alabama clutch from free throw line
The Crimson Tide impressed at the free throw line Saturday at Kentucky, as the team knocked down a combined 29-of-34, with many big makes coming late. This translated to a total of 85.3% made, which was compared to 80% for Kentucky.
Alabama wins the rebounding battle
After struggling at times on the boards against Ole Miss, Alabama won the rebounding battle Saturday over Kentucky. The Crimson Tide out-rebounded Kentucky in all, 42-38, while included a 15-13 advantage on the offensive glass.
Mark Sears passes Robert Horry on Alabama’s all-time scoring list
As part of Alabama’s win Saturday, guard Mark Sears officially passed former Crimson Tide great Robert Horry for 14th on the program’s all-time scoring list. Sears finished the game with 24 points.
https://twitter.com/AlabamaMBB/status/1880690911321239668
Alabama now sits at 15-3 overall, 4-1 in SEC
After this result, Alabama now sits with an overall record of 15-3 for the season. The…
Click Here to Read the Full Original Article at Basketball | Roll Tide Wire…