Kentucky Wildcats vs Alabama Crimson Tide Match Player Stats On Feb 05, 2022

TyTy Washington Jr. had 15 points, and Oscar Tshiebwe added 10 points and 15 rebounds to lead No. 5 Kentucky to a 66-55 victory over host Alabama in a Southeastern Conference game on Saturday in Tuscaloosa, Ala.

Daimion Collins had 10 points and six rebounds for the Wildcats (19-4, 8-2 SEC), who have won four in a row and eight of their past nine contests.

Kentucky, which also got 10 points from Keion Brooks Jr. and Kellan Grady, shot 40 percent (24-for-60) from the field, including 36.4 percent (4-for-11) from 3-point-range.

Charles Bediako scored a team-high 12 points on 4-for-4 shooting to go along with eight rebounds for Alabama (14-9, 4-6), which has dropped three of its past four games.

The Crimson Tide struggled offensively for much of the night, as they shot 28.1 percent (18-for-64) from the field, including an abysmal 10 percent (3-for-30) from beyond the arc. They also went 16-for-24 (66.7 percent) from the free-throw line, while Kentucky made 14 of its 19 attempts (73.7 percent) from the charity stripe.

After Alabama pulled to within 41-37 on James Rojas' two free throws with 14:15 left, the Crimson Tide didn't score for the next 4:40. The Wildcats took advantage, going on a 9-0 run to push the lead to 50-37 before Jaden Shackelford's two free throws with 9:35 remaining.

The Crimson Tide opened the second half by missing 16 of their first 19 shots, including all nine from 3-point range, enabling Kentucky to lead by as many as 17 points in the second half.

After Alabama jumped out to a 9-1 lead to start the game, Kentucky outplayed the Crimson Tide the rest of the half to take a 33-27 lead at intermission.

Kentucky shot 41.4 percent (12-for-29) from the field, including 33.3 percent (2-for-6) from 3-point range, and scored 12 points off Alabama's nine turnovers in the opening 20 minutes.

Alabama's struggles from the perimeter overshadowed their fast start. Keon Ellis scored six points on 2-for-4 shooting from beyond the arc, but the rest of the team shot a combined 0-for-12.

Alabama shot 33.3 percent (10-for-30) from the floor and missed five of its 10 attempts from the free-throw line in the first half.

--Field Level Media