Grant Nelson scored 25 points and grabbed 11 rebounds, and No. 4 Alabama beat No. 8 Kentucky on Saturday, 102-97, in a matchup between two of the best offensive teams in the country.
Nelson was 7-for-13 from the field and 9-for-10 at the line. He scored a total of 21 points in his previous three games.
Mark Sears scored 16 of his 24 points in the second half for Alabama (15-3, 4-1 SEC), in which five players scored in double figures.
Kentucky (14-4, 3-2) has won two in a row since its 82-69 loss to Georgia. Otega Oye scored 21 points for the Wildcats, and Lamont Butler added 17 points and eight assists.
Kentucky grabbed a 56-52 lead on Brandon Garrison’s dunk with 16:13 left, but Alabama responded with a 14-2 run.
Sears started the big sequence with a jumper. He also had an assist when Aden Holloway hit a 3-pointer to make it 66-58 with 12:33 left in the game.
Ready meals
Alabama: The Tide went 29-for-34 at the line, which helped the team hang on.
Kentucky: The Wildcats struggled to find defensive stops in key moments throughout the game.
Key moment
After Garrison’s dunk tied it at 81, LaBaron Philon scored five points in Alabama’s 9-0 win.
Key statistics
Alabama forced Kentucky, one of the best three-point shooting teams in the country, to drive inside most of the second half. Alabama went 13-for-34 from beyond the arc, compared to 11-for-27 for Kentucky.
the next
Alabama hosts Vanderbilt on Tuesday. Kentucky has a week off before going to Vanderbilt next Saturday.
Associated Press report.
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