Alabama coach Nate Oats, right, had no answers against Kentucky. (Vicky Graff Photo)
Beating Alabama was not just another win for Kentucky. No, Kentucky coach John Calipari did not mention any special significance about the 66-55 victory at Alabama Saturday night. However, ESPN analyst Jimmy Dykes, a former UK assistant coach, did late in the game.
“Sometimes a game means a little more than other games,” said Dykes. “He (Calipari) heard the noise about Kentucky should be playing like Alabama. Don’t think for a second he does not have a little extra juice for this game.”
Kentucky lost twice to Alabama last season when it went 9-16. The Crimson Tide were the new fun team with a fast-paced offense that loved the 3-point shot. Kentucky fans love a fast-paced brand of basketball and it was Alabama, not Kentucky, winning with that style.
But Saturday night the Crimson Tide went 3-for-30 from 3-point range and just could not score consistently against Kentucky. The Tide also cannot consistently win.
Alabama has wins over Gonzaga, Baylor, and Houston. But in SEC play, Alabama is 4-6 and tied for seventh place with LSU, Texas A&M, South Carolina, and Vanderbilt.
“We knew they were going to be aggressive and we had to run them off the 3-point line,” Kentucky guard TyTy Washington said. “We knew if we made them take tough 2’s and rebounded, we would be fine.”
Calipari said when a team shoots that many 3-pointers and makes a lot, it will win. Or it can go the other way like it did Saturday night.
“They missed some open 3’s. It was not their night to make 3’s,” Calipari said.
Then the swaggy Calipari took over.
“Did we play twice last year? Do we play again twice this year?” Calipari asked.
Obviously, Kentucky does play Alabama twice with the second game coming up Feb. 19 in Rupp Arena.
“Are we going to play them twice again next year?” Calipari wondered.
Actually, I think Calipari is probably hoping the SEC will have the two teams play twice again next year because as Dykes noted, these games just have a little “extra juice” for Calipari now.
