Kentucky basketball had another top 15 matchup in Rupp Arena, this time against #4 Alabama, and while the Wildcats hung around, the final minutes were the story

By Keith Taylor Kentucky Today Alabama was the first team to 100 points and it was just enough to hold off Kentucky Saturday in a showdown between the two top-scoring teams in the Southeastern Conference.

Mark Pope and Kentucky fell at home to Alabama 102-97 in quite the basketball game in the SEC. The No. 8 Wildcats brought a lot to the table but the No. 4 Crimson Tide were just a little bit better. Pope threw that word out during the postgame presser though.

For the first time under Mark Pope’s leadership, UK basketball lost at Rupp Arena. The Kentucky coach explains a home defeat to Alabama.

“Alabama right now is, of course, they’ve always been so potent, demanding shooting guards’ space, their pace is elite, ” Pope said. “I don’t know if the metrics change every but they are one of the fastest-playing teams in the country.”

Mark Pope’s UK team fell behind by 13 points at halftime and eventually lost by that same margin, 82-69, to Georgia in the Wildcats’ first SEC road game of the season.