LEXINGTON, Ky. — With March Madness looming, Kentucky coach John Calipari had a forward-thinking objective for the windup of the regular season.
“My concern right now is we’ve got to get healthy,” he said on Friday.
No. 4 Kentucky’s game against No. 25 Alabama on Saturday, a 90-81 victory at Rupp Arena, breathed life into those words.
UK played without guards Sahvir Wheeler and TyTy Washington. The latter had been taken out of the loss at Tennessee earlier in the week.
Wheeler and Washington had accounted for 58.1% of Kentucky’s assists in Southeastern Conference play (118 of 203).
Even so, Alabama coach Nate Oats expected his team to face an uphill climb.
“Not like they get that much worse in the starting lineup,” he said. “Davion Mintz has been playing great for them. … They’ll be missing a good player. They’ll replace him with a really good player, too.”
With Kellan Grady scoring a season-high 25 points, Kentucky prevailed.
Oscar Tshiebwe scored 21 points and grabbed 14 rebounds in posting his ninth straight double-double and 21st of the season.
No Wheeler or Washington wasn’t the only stark difference from when the teams played at Alabama two weekends earlier.
In that first game, Alabama made only 3 of 30 3-point shots. The Tide matched that total barely three minutes into the rematch. Juwan Gary made Alabama’s third 3-pointer with 16:48 left in the first half.
Alabama made 9 of 22 3-point shots in the half. That helped put Kentucky behind for more than 18 of the 20 minutes.
The deficit reached its zenith at 41-28 with 5:34 left before the break, when Noah Gurley posted up Keion Brooks for a basket.
It was Alabama’s 16th field goal of the first half. The Tide surpassing the 18 field goals in the entire first game seemed likely before halftime.
But Alabama made only 1 of 10 shots the rest of the half.
In that time, Kentucky went on a 13-0 run to lead 47-46 at intermission.
With each score, the fans filled Rupp Arena with louder cheers. This crescendo reached full volume at the end of the run.
First, Tshiebwe got caught on a switch and was defending Jaden Shackelford on the perimeter. Tshiebwe clapped his hands in a gesture that seemed to invite the Alabama guard to try to score.
Shackelford drove, but Tshiebwe deflected the shot.
That ignited a rare fast-break opportunity for Kentucky. Grady hit a corner 3-pointer with 42.7 seconds left to give UK its first lead and set the halftime score.
No Wheeler and Washington surely contributed to Kentucky having only six fast-break points before halftime. The first such points did not come until the 11:53 mark when Mintz made a layup in transition.
UK also did not exhibit the penetrating drives that resulted in several dunks off lob passes in Tuscaloosa.
Kentucky’s momentum continued into the second half. UK’s lead grew to 54-48 when Jacob Toppin, who started for the second time this season, banked in a 3-point shot with the shot clock down to its final seconds. It was his third 3-pointer in five attempts this season.
After the Tide countered and took a 56-54 lead on a corner 3 by Shackelford with 16:07 left, Kentucky took control.
A 20-2 run put UK ahead 71-58 with less than 12 minutes left.
Grady made three 3-point shots in the breakout. The third was memorable. He seemed to have turned toward the bench as the ball came his way. He turned back in time to catch the ball, take a dribble and swish a three-point shot.
Brooks capped the run by making his first 3-point shot since Jan. 15. It put Kentucky ahead 74-58 with 10:46 left.
Alabama closed within 80-73 with almost five minutes left. Grady’s fourth 3-pointer of the second half stemmed the Tide.
