Five things you need to know from No. 8 Kentucky’s 102-97 loss to No. 4 Alabama

Five things you need to know from No. 8 Kentucky’s 102-97 loss to No. 4 Alabama in men’s SEC basketball at Rupp Arena at Central Bank Center:

1. Grant Nelson rocks blue bloods. A 6-foot-11, 230-pound super-senior, Nelson was a matchup nightmare for Kentucky.

The Alabama forward finished with 25 points, 11 rebounds and two assists. UK forwards Andrew Carr and Ansley Almonor each picked up four fouls trying to stay in front of Nelson.

Nelson is no stranger to coming up big against men’s college basketball’s most tradition-rich programs. He had 24 points, 12 rebounds and five blocked shots in Alabama’s 89-87 win over North Carolina in last season’s NCAA Tournament Sweet 16.

2. Bama wins the battle of 3s. In a matchup of two coaches known for their adherence to 3-point-oriented “modern basketball,” it was Alabama that prevailed from behind the arc.

Nate Oats’ Crimson Tide launched 34 treys, making 13. That bested Mark Pope’s Wildcats in both makes (UK had 11) and attempts (27).

After Kentucky tied the game at 81 on a Brandon Garrison dunk with 5:11 left, Alabama responded with a 9-0 run that included 3-point bombs from Chris Youngblood and Labaron Philon.

3. Double triple digits denied — barely. In a matchup of teams that entered the game No. 1 (Alabama, 89.5 points a game) and No. 3 (Kentucky, 88.7) in the country in scoring, it did not seem a stretch to think that both squads could go over 100 points Saturday.

Alas, it did not quite happen.

UK has already played one such game this season. The Wildcats downed Florida 106-100 on Jan. 4.

One has to go all the way back to the 1989-90 season to find the last time UK played at least two games in which each team went above the century mark.

That year, Rick Pitino’s first season as UK head man, Kentucky played three “double century” games.

The Wildcats lost them all, falling 116-113 in overtime to Southwestern Louisiana (now Louisiana Lafayette), 121-110 to North Carolina at Freedom Hall and 102-100 at Tennessee.

4. The Wildcats can’t complete a historic sweep. Following Kentucky’s wins at then-No. 14 Mississippi State and over No. 11 Texas A&M, Saturday’s contest with No. 4 Alabama marked only the fifth time in UK men’s basketball history that the Cats had played three straight games against foes ranked in the top 15 of the AP Top 25.

The loss to Alabama prevented Kentucky from its first 3-0 sweep of such games.

Below is how UK has fared the five times it has played three straight contests against AP top-15 teams:

▪ 1956-57: 2-1.

No. 7 Kentucky lost at No. 13 Duke (85-84), then beat No. 4 SMU (76-67) and No. 5 Illinois (73-70) at Memorial Coliseum to win the UKIT.

▪ 1973-74: 0-3.

No. 10 Kentucky lost to No. 13 Kansas (71-63), No. 3 Indiana (77-68) and No. 5 North Carolina (101-84).

▪ 1984-85: 0-3.

Kentucky lost to No. 8 SMU (56-54), No. 11 Indiana (81-68) and No. 14 Louisville (71-64).

▪ 1993-94: 1-2.

No. 7 Kentucky defeated No. 11 Massachusetts (67-64). Moved up in the rankings to No. 4, UK then lost to No. 3 Arkansas (90-82) and at No. 14 Syracuse (93-85).

▪ 2024-25: 2-1.

No. 6 Kentucky won at No. 14 Mississippi State (95-90). Dropped to No. 8 due to a loss at Georgia the prior week, UK then came home to beat No. 11 Texas A&M (81-69) but lost 102-97 to No. 4 Alabama.

5. Mark Pope’s first home loss. With Kentucky’s defeat, the Wildcats are now 11-1 at Rupp Arena in the UK coach’s debut season.

Starting with Adolph Rupp in 1930, Pope’s streak of 11 home wins to begin his UK coaching career before tasting defeat in Lexington for the first time is the fourth-longest among prior Kentucky head men.

Below, in descending order, are the number of home wins each UK coach since 1930 recorded before losing in Lexington for the first time:

▪ John Calipari: Won his first 54 home games as Kentucky head man before falling in the 55th, 64-55 to Baylor, on Dec. 1, 2012.

▪ Eddie Sutton: Won his first 22 home games before losing in the 23rd to Alabama, 69-55, at Rupp Arena on Jan. 7, 1987.

▪ Adolph Rupp: Won his first 19 home games before losing in the 20th, 32-31, to Vanderbilt on Feb. 20, 1932.

▪ Mark Pope: Had won his first 11 home games as UK head man before losing in the 12th, 102-97 to Alabama, on Jan. 18, 2025.

▪ Rick Pitino: Won his first first five home games before falling in the sixth, 116-113 in overtime to Southwestern Louisiana (now Louisiana Lafayette) in the finals of the UKIT on Dec. 23, 1989.

▪ Tubby Smith: Won his first four home games before falling in the fifth, 79-76 to Louisville, on Dec. 27, 1997.

▪ Billy Gillispie: Won his first home game before losing in his second, 84-68 to Gardner-Webb, on Nov. 7, 2007.

▪ Joe B. Hall: Lost his first home game as Kentucky head man, falling to Iowa, 79-66, on Dec. 4, 1972, at Memorial Coliseum.

No. 4 Alabama puts Kentucky away in final minutes. Pope suffers first loss in Rupp Arena.

Box score from No. 8 Kentucky basketball’s 102-97 SEC loss to No. 4 Alabama

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