The Alabama Crimson Tide defeated the Kentucky Wildcats 85-65 on Tuesday night. It was Alabama\u2019s first win in Rupp Arena since 2006 and indicates a drastic power shift atop the Southeastern Conference. Well, this year, at least.<\/p>\n
When people talk about Alabama athletics in January, it usually involves the College Football Playoff National Championship. The Crimson Tide won their 18th football title on Monday<\/a>\u2014surprisingly tying Yale for the most championships in NCAA history. It\u2019s time to move on, however. We have other sports to worry about, but we don\u2019t have to leave the program.<\/p>\n The Tide\u2019s men\u2019s basketball team has been on a roll of late. Since they dropped a home game against Western Kentucky on Dec. 19, 2020, they\u2019ve won six straight. Five of those wins have been part of SEC play. Alabama currently leads the conference and is 10-3 overall.<\/p>\n Though Kentucky has had an up-and-down season\u2014more of the latter\u2014they had been playing well as of late. The Wildcats had won the first three games of conference play after a dreadful, frankly unheard of, six-game losing streak. It appeared the powerhouse was back. That didn\u2019t last long.<\/p>\n Alabama never trailed on Tuesday night. John Petty Jr. <\/strong><\/a>led all scorers with 23 points, and Jaden Shackelford<\/a><\/strong> and Joshua Primo<\/a><\/strong> added 18 and 12 respectively. The team shot 45.6 percent from the field, including a very solid 46.7 percent beyond the arc.<\/p>\n Though known for their fast-paced offense, their defense was on display as well. The Tide held the Wildcats to a dismal 34.4 percent shooting and forced 19 turnovers while allowing just seven assists.<\/p>\n Unfortunately for Alabama, Herbert Jones<\/a><\/strong> left the game in the first half with a hand injury. Head Coach Nate Oats explained during his postgame interview that the star forward would be evaluated more today. He added that he didn\u2019t believe Jones\u2019s hand was broken, which is important if the Tide wishes to continue rolling through the SEC.<\/p>\n Alabama sits atop the SEC standings with a 5-0 record. They have no players in the top five of any common conference stat this season. However, as a team, they rank fourth in points per game, second in points scored, and first in three-pointers made. Also, on the defensive side, they have the most steals in the conference. Oats has a complete team effort each game. The program\u2019s signature win this year\u2014which would have been last night if there wasn\u2019t so much doubt surrounding Kentucky\u2014was against No. 7 Tennessee. The Tide defeated the Volunteers 71-63 on Jan. 1 in Knoxville.<\/p>\n Alabama is playing very good basketball at the moment, but the SEC is stacked<\/a>. The Tide still must travel to LSU, Oklahoma, No. 17 Missouri, and South Carolina<\/a>. Sprinkle in a few home games against Arkansas, Mississippi State, Kentucky (they can only get better), and LSU, and that\u2019s a tough next few weeks. It sounds a lot worse if you think those are football games.<\/p>\n With that in mind, Alabama is well on its way to earning an at-large bid to the NCAA Tournament. That\u2019s if, of course, they don\u2019t end up winning the SEC. A strong January can offset any future stumbles or past mishaps\u2014like last month.<\/p>\n Just five weeks ago, it didn\u2019t appear they would be in this position. Their troubles were more covered from what happened on the podium rather than the court, though. On Dec. 10, Oats was criticized by the media for publically calling out Duke\u2019s Head Coach Mike Krzyzewski<\/a> in regard to his comments about COVID-19.<\/p>\n When asked about Coach K\u2019s suggestion to pause the season earlier in the year, Oats told the press<\/a>, \u201cDo you think if Coach K hadn\u2019t lost the two non-conference games at home he\u2019d still be saying that?\u201d<\/p>\n Timing is everything, and scrutiny is relative. After Oats challenged the decorated Duke coach\u2019s reasoning, the Tide lost to Clemson, barely survived Furman, and then lost to Western Kentucky.<\/p>\n Alabama could have faltered even more, but instead, they rallied.<\/p>\n Looking Ahead<\/strong><\/p>\n Alabama hosts a very dangerous Arkansas squad on Jan. 16. Expect a lot of points.<\/p>\n Main PhotoSEC Leaders<\/h3>\n
December to Forget<\/h3>\n
\nEmbed from Getty Images<\/a>