How to watch the Kentucky Wildcats take on #14 Alabama in Tuscaloosa

How Kentucky basketball fans can watch their Wildcats face the Alabama Crimson Tide on Saturday.

Dec 23, 2025; Lexington, Kentucky, USA; Kentucky Wildcats head coach Mark Pope looks to his bench during the first half against the Bellarmine Knights at Rupp Arena at Central Bank Center. Mandatory Credit: Jordan Prather-Imagn Images | Jordan Prather-Imagn Images

Mark Pope's Kentucky squad is hitting the road to take on the Alabama Crimson Tide in Tuscaloosa on Saturday. After finally getting all of their players heatlhy against St. John's with the debut of Jayden Quaintance, the Wildcats are looking to ride the latest momentum into conference play.

It's going to be a tough ask for the Wildcats to be able to walk out of Coleman Coliseum with the win, but right now, their confidence couldn't be higher. Since their loss to Gonzaga, they have played like a completely different team. Not only have they gotten healthy with Jaland Lowe, Mo Dioubate, and now Jayden Quaintance on the floor, but they've found their identity, as in both of their last two quality matchups, Indiana and St. John's, they leaned on defense, and once Jaland Lowe returned, used big second-halves to pull away.

The team is clearly different whenever Jaland Lowe on the floor, but both Dioubate and Quaintance are difference-makers in their own right, really raising the ceiling of this team on the defensive end. Fully healthy, this Kentucky team can become dangerous, but they've got to stay that way through conference play.

Let's take a look at how to watch Mark Pope and the Kentucky Wildcats take on the #14 Alabama Crimson Tide on Saturday.

How to watch Kentucky take on #14 Alabama

The Wildcats will take on the Crimson Tide at Noon ET on Saturday, and you can watch the game on ESPN. You may also listen on the UK Sports Network.

Dec 23, 2025; Lexington, Kentucky, USA; Kentucky Wildcats guard Otega Oweh (00) chest bumps forward Mouhamed Dioubate (23) during the first half against the Bellarmine Knights at Rupp Arena at Central Bank Center. Mandatory Credit: Jordan Prather-Imagn Images | Jordan Prather-Imagn Images

Keys to victory for Kentucky against #14 Alabama

Kentucky's defense gets back to dominating

Maybe it's looking into it a little too much since holiday games tend to be a little bit sluggish, but Kentucky let Bellarmine, who is ranked just over 250th in the entire country, do whatever they wanted on offense in Rupp Arena on Dec. 23. The Wildcats need to get back to their identity and what gave them their only two quad 1 wins of the season to this point, and that was the defense they displayed against Indiana and St. John's. They'll need it against the #3 offense in the country that features an absolutely electric backcourt. Kentucky will need to try and disrupt as much as they can, keeping that aggressiveness and intensity up. In their loss to Arizona, the Tide committed 15 turnovers. That needs to happen again if you're Kentucky.

Kentucky wins the rebounding battle

This one will be an area of the stat sheet to really monitor. With Kentucky's best rebounder, Mo Dioubate, in the fold, Kentucky can really win the battle on the glass. After facing a St. John's team that is absolutely terrific on the offensive glass and really feeds off second chances, Kentucky can't let that happen against an Alabama team that doesn't need extra chances to beat you on offense. They let their three-point volume and efficiency from inside do the talking. Alabama is actually ranked just 113th on the offensive glass. Kentucky is actually 33rd on the defensive glass. As for the other end, Bama is 294th on the defensive end, so some extra opportunities await Kentucky if they want them.

Kam Williams' continues hot three-point shooting from last game

It's clear that one part of Kentucky's offense that hasn't been there at all in quality games is their three-point shooting. But, against Bellarmine, Kentucky was able to really expose the zone and get some confidence going in that area. Kentucky shot 16-30 against the Knights, with Kam Williams having eight of those threes, which is the most by a Kentucky player since 2019-20. Yes, eight, and he'll look to carry that over into SEC play, because Kentucky will need it if they're unable to make Alabama's offense uncomfortable, which is a tall task, but can be done. Williams had 26 points against Bellarmine on 8-10 shooting from three.