The injury report for Kentucky's game at Alabama has been released

The Kentucky Wildcats are hitting the road on Saturday to take on the #14 Alabama Crimson Tide to begin SEC play, and there are no injuries of not for Mark Pope's squad as they get ready for a huge battle in Tuscaloosa.

Kentucky was fully healthy for the first time this season entering their matchup in Atlanta against St. John's, ending up with just 16 minutes with all of Jaland Lowe, Mo Dioubate, and Jayden Quaintance on the floor, making it a fully healthy Kentucky team with Quaintance making his debut in that game. It was a rare sight to see, as Kentucky has not had both Lowe and Dioubate on the floor together since the Louisville game on Nov. 11. The Wildcats were supposed to be fully healthy for the entirety of the game against Rick Pitino's Johnnies, but Lowe went out with a scare just seven seconds after checking into the game and came back with over 16 minutes left in the second half. From there, fans saw all about what makes this team's ceiling so high when healthy.

Big Blue Nation has seen glimpses of the team healthy, but nothing like when they were able to add star big man Jayden Quaintance into the fold in Atlanta. For those 16 minutes, it was a fun brand of basketball, and everyone saw the vision of why this team was ranked top 10 heading into the season. As for Alabama, Nate Oats' squad has had a few key guys in and out of the rotation, as star guard Labaron Philon did not play against Yale earlier this week, as well as reserves London Jemison and Davion Hannah. But the star guard is expected to be back on Saturday, and the Tide will certainly need him against the Wildcats, as he's such a big part of their high-octane offense. Here is what the injury report looks like for the big matchup between Kentucky and Alabama to open SEC play:

Kentucky-Alabama availability report | SEC

Mark Pope previewed the matchup earlier this week, starting with Alabama star guard Labaron Philon, who as you can see from the injury report, is expected to play. Then on defense, it's all about their elite rim protection:

"He's really hard to contain, he's so great off the bounce," Pope said of Alabama star guard Labaron Philon. "And I'll tell you the thing that I don't think he gets enough credit for, maybe he does, but he is an elite, elite, elite level playmaker off the bounce, man, as a passer, finding guys. He's got a real skill of threading the needle when he needs to get in balls where he does. He's unbelievably hitting a short roll and kind of push screen rolls. He's got an unbelievable first, second, and third step. He's a multiple move guy. He finishes well around the rim. He's shooting at an elite level clip. He's a big time player."

"Their rim protection is elite. My the first game I watched a couple days ago was Alabama-Arizona. And Arizona is always a huge team inside, and they were dominant on the glass. I don't know the number of blocks in the game, but Alabama was just, their rim protection was elite. I think they're 14 or 16 in the country right now (in blocks), and that's a really impressive stat number for them, and it's been probably the most, maybe, give or take, the most impactful part of their defensive attack right now has been their own protection. It's been elite."

A big opportunity for Kentucky's resume awaits in Tuscaloosa on Saturday.

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