No. 4 Alabama Outlasts No. 8 Kentucky in 102-97 Road Win

In the biggest moment on the biggest stage in the SEC, a freshman stepped up and delivered for the Crimson Tide. No. 4 Alabama and No. 8 Kentucky were engaged in a back-and-forth battle at Rupp Arena that was coming down to the final minutes in a tie game with 5:13 to go.

The Crimson Tide had a six-point lead after a 3-pointer from Chris Youngblood with under four minutes to go, but it was still just a two-possession game. Mark Sears grabbed an offensive rebound on the next possession and found Alabama freshman Labaron Philon for an open 3-pointer, which he nailed.

PHILON
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— Alabama Men’s Basketball (@AlabamaMBB) January 18, 2025

That shot gave Alabama some breathing room going into the final stretch, and behind a career day from Grant Nelson, the Crimson Tide picked up a huge road win at Kentucky, 102-97.

It was Alabama's first road win at Rupp Arena against a top-10 Kentucky team since 2002 and a big bounceback victory for the Crimson Tide after dropping a home game to Ole Miss in the midweek.

"This was a completely different team than the one that played Ole Miss," Alabama head coach Nate Oats said after the game. "If we learned the lessons we needed to in that loss Tuesday, and we don't forget them for the rest of the year, that might be the best thing that's happened to us. We've just got to make sure this is not a one-game deal."

Alabama has struggled for most of the season at the free throw line, but was clutch at the charity stripe in the final minutes. The Crimson Tide shot 85 percent from the free throw line.

An early sequence from Nelson set the level of aggressiveness and confidence Alabama was going to play with on Saturday. Nelson air balled a 3-pointer, and Kentucky hit one on the other end to go up 7-2. Instead of shrinking back in front of a hostile Rupp crowd after the bad miss, Nelson proceeded to hit a 3 on the next possession and score eight of Alabama's next points as part of an 11-0 run.

Nelson finished with a double-double and an Alabama career high of 25 points along with 11 rebounds.

"Nelson came out ready to go," Oats said. "I think he had 10 out of our first 20 at the beginning of the game. You know, he goes 3 of 7 from the free throw line on Tuesday night, and he got in the gym and worked. We were able to make small corrections to his shot and give him some confidence by putting a lot of work in."

Alabama held a slight 47-45 lead at halftime, but the game continued in a tight manner through the majority of the second half. Kentucky went on an 11-3 run for its largest lead of the half at 56-52, but Alabama responded with a 14-6 run, and the Wildcats never led over the final 14:21.

Despite dealing with foul trouble and a short bench with Derrion Reid still out, all eight of the Alabama players that played significant minutes provided big contributions in different areas for the Crimson Tide. Five players scored in double figures and Mouhamed Dioubate added eight points and eight rebounds in just 15 minutes of play before fouling out. Clifford Omoruyi had one of his best games in an Alabama uniform with 12 points and seven rebounds, and Youngblood hit several clutch 3s.

Even though it is still early in the season, this victory was huge for the Crimson Tide in the SEC standings. Alabama improves to 15-3 (4-1 SEC) and will come back to Coleman Coliseum for a game against Vanderbilt on Tuesday.

Final Stats: Alabama 102, Kentucky 97 | Statbroadcast

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