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It was your classic good news / bad news moment.
Alabama basketball’s historic good opening to the SEC game included an 85-65 victory over Kentucky at Rupp Arena. He beat an eight-game skid at Lexington for his first win there in 15 years. Prior to Tuesday, the Tide hadn’t been 5-0 in SEC play since 1987.
It was the most uneven loss of home of the John Calipari era that began in 2009.
It was good.
Having two starters with injuries casts a shadow over this result. Senior star Herbert Jones fell down shaking his hand in the first half before transfer graduate Jordan Bruner could not put any weight on his foot in the second.
Most of the attention has gone to Jones after gutting a broken wrist last season.
“I don’t think it’s broken,” Oats said. “But I think they want our specialists to look tomorrow before giving us a diagnosis. From what I’ve heard it’s not broken but I think it will be out for a little while.
Oats also said Bruner’s knee will be evaluated by medics after their flight home.
Alabama (10-3, 5-0 SEC) nearly tied a season high with 14 shots from behind the arc still dragging the 15th in the win over UNLV. It was the Tide’s sixth consecutive victory since falling against Western Kentucky on December 19. It’s a race that includes top 5 wins over Tennessee, Florida, Auburn and now Kentucky.
The final 20-point margin was a game-high as John Petty peaked in Season 23 on a night when Alabama finished the game without three starters. Playmaker Jahvon Quinerly missed his third straight game with an undisclosed medical issue.
Petty did her part effectively. The Huntsville senior went 4 for 7 from 3 points to surpass his previous season record of 22 against UNLV on Dec. 1.
Kentucky (4-7, 3-1) had no answer for Alabama’s penetrating guards from Petty to Jaden Shackelford and Jones before his injury. A handful of easy layups or dunks resulted from the Wildcats’ inability to change when the ball entered the paint.
Alabama also took advantage of Wildcat’s sloppy play on the attacking side. Kentucky’s 19 turnovers turned into 28 Crimson Tide points on a night the Wildcats finished with a 44-36 rebound.
“Kentucky is obviously down this year,” Oats said, “but they’re still Kentucky.”
The hosts also continued a fight of the season from 3 points, going just 4 for 18.
Alabama welcomes Arkansas at 2:30 p.m. Saturday at the Coleman Coliseum.
Michael Casagrande is a reporter for the Alabama Media Group. Follow him on Twitter @ByCasagrande Or on Facebook.
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