6 Kentucky bows out of SEC Tournament in blowout loss to 3 Alabama

Kentucky guard Koby Brea sits on the bench during the second half of an NCAA college basketball game against Kentucky in the quarterfinal round of the Southeastern Conference tournament, Friday, March 14, 2025, in Nashville, Tenn. (AP Photo/Wade Payne)

NASHVILLE, Tn. (ABC36 NEWS NOW)- Kentucky men’s basketball will look to get healthy after the Lamont Butler-less Wildcats fell behind Alabama from the first minute and never recovered on Friday in Nashville.

UK trailed for the entire game as the Crimson Tide stretched its lead to as much as 30 from being up by seven at halftime to win by 29 points. Head Coach Nate Oats’ team has beaten UK all three times they have met this season, which is a new program record for the Tide.

Box Score Breakdown

Kentucky didn’t shoot well, protect the ball or capitalize off of turnovers in the conference tournament quarterfinals.

Head Coach Mark Pope’s squad turned the ball over 16 times for 29 Alabama points while only taking the rock from the Tide ten times and scoring six points off of those chances. Seven Alabama players had at least one steal as well amounting to 11 total.

The Cats also couldn’t put much together on the fast break scoring three from breakaway opportunities. Alabama had 19 points on the run.

Alabama was 51% from the field and 38% from behind the arc while the Cats converted under 40% of their field goal attempts and were a lowly 26% from three-point range.

Relying on the Bigs

Kentucky’s leading scorers were Andrew Carr and Amari Williams, who had to pick up some slack with Butler sidelined. Carr had a team-high 18 with Williams two behind him.

Most of those tallies came from the paint in Carr’s case or at the free throw line in William’s. The pair went a combined 1/2 from beyond the arc as Williams never attempted a three-pointer.

The other UK player in double figures was Travis Perry, who scored 11, but was 3/11 from the field. Most of his points came from knocking down free throws.

0-3 Versus Bama

Kentucky had suffered defeat to Alabama before without Lamont Butler and Jaxson Robinson a few weeks ago in Coleman Coliseum. In that loss, guard Mark Sears scored 30 of Alabama’s 96 tallies.

That loss was the second worst for Kentucky to the Tide as the Cats fell by 13.

This one, a 29-point thumping, marks the worst defeat to Alabama and the second most points Oats’ crew has scored on UK this season. Kentucky gave up 102 points in January at home to Alabama in a five point loss.