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Kentucky vs. Alabama: Postgame Recap and Things to Know

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UK Athletics

On Saturday, the Kentucky Wildcats went on the road to Tuscaloosa to play arguably their toughest game on the schedule against No. 7 Alabama. Instead of capturing their first marque win of the season, the Wildcats walked out embarrassed.

The Crimson Tide jumped out to a quick 11-2 lead, scoring primarily off of layups and dunks from Alabama’s big man Charle Bediako. John Calipari responded by putting Oscar Tshiebwe on the bench, after poorly defending the pick and roll and generally looking unprepared.

This also coincided with Cason Wallace picking up a second foul, forcing him to the bench for the last fifteen minutes of the half. Yet, the Wildcats didn’t fold and fought to cut the game to a one-point deficit, 19-20, with under five minutes to go.

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However, Jacob Toppin, who had been the primary defender on Brandon Miller, picked up his second foul, and Alabama took full advantage. The Crimson Tide ended the half on an 8-2 run and a 35-24 lead.

The second half is when things really took a turn for the worse. Alabama opened the half with a 15-3 run and Kentucky never punched back. The Wildcat’s offense looked forced and their defense gave Alabama anything they wanted.

In the end, Alabama blew out Kentucky 78-52, handing Kentucky their largest loss in the John Calipari era. Nate Oat’s team looked like many Kentucky teams in the first decade of the Calipari era: star freshmen, long & athletic, and just imposing their will against their opponent.

Let’s take a closer look at Saturday’s all-systems failure.

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Not Oscar Tshiebwe’s or Cason Wallace’s Day

Oscar Tshiebwe (16.8 ppg) and Cason Wallace (12.9 ppg) entered Saturday’s game as Kentucky’s two leading scorers. Against Alabama, the duo combined for just six points on 2-20 (10%) shooting and five turnovers.

The troubles for the two didn’t stop on the offensive end, especially for Tshiebwe. Wallace made some uncharacteristic reads, but as mentioned previously, Tshiebwe struggled mightily to defend the pick-and-roll. After the game, Nate Oats said as so and that it was an emphasis for Alabama.

“We decided to attack him early on ball screens. I don’t think he’s very good at guarding ball screens,” Oats said on Tshiebwe. “We got behind him three times right out of the gate.”

This shouldn’t be expected to be a regular occurrence, but it shows just how reliant Kentucky is on the two, specifically on offense.

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Worst Twenty-Five Minutes of the Season

After a quick start from Alabama, Kentucky fought back and pushed themselves back in the game, down 19-20. However, over the last twenty-five minutes of the game, the Crimson Tide completely dominated on both ends of the court.

In a game of runs, Kentucky could only hold off for so long and they never had a run of their own to answer. After a strong defensive start, the floodgates opened and Alabama scored 58 points in the last twenty-five minutes of the game.

From the sidelines, the coaches were provided an even worse seat for the performance. “Gotta regroup, we’ve got a game Tuesday,” Calipari said. “I don’t even know if I want to watch the tape, maybe the first half.”

Any Positives?

It’s hard to find any positives, especially in an embarrassing loss, but we will reach and find two.

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For one, Kentucky’s bench played fairly well and brought toughness. While Calipari has been in the process of limiting the rotation, he played five players off the bench, including four with 10+ minutes (Collins, Onyenso, Reeves, and Thiero).

The biggest star off the bench was Antonio Reeves, who scored a team-high 20 points, including four made three-pointers. This was his first game with more than 11 points since November, and it was encouraging to see Reeves perform this well against elite competition.

The second positive, Kentucky outrebounded and attempted 19 more shots than Alabama. When this happens, 26-point blowouts are not usually the case. With Kentucky having this many extra shots, they need to play more “deliberate” as Calipari has been reiterating recently, which is something that did not appear to be the case on Saturday.


This team loses if it stays down. With that said, it will interesting to see how they respond against South Carolina on Tuesday, with a matchup at Tennessee on the horizon.

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Men's Basketball

How a Call with Mark Pope Led Denzel Aberdeen to Kentucky

After winning a national title at Florida, Denzel Aberdeen committed to Kentucky without ever visiting campus—thanks to a revealing three-hour call with head coach Mark Pope.

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Chet White | UK Athletics

As a junior, Denzel Aberdeen was a key part of Florida’s national title run. But a certain phone conversation convinced him to leave his home state and head north to Lexington in hopes of experiencing that feeling once again.

He had never set foot in Lexington before deciding to become a Kentucky Wildcat — and he didn’t need to. All it took was one phone call — three hours long, on Easter Sunday — with head coach Mark Pope to convince him that he belonged in blue and white.

“Our phone call lasted about three hours, to be honest,” Aberdeen said, meeting with the media in Lexington for the first time earlier this week. “A lot of it was just getting to know me and getting to know the school, the university, getting to know him (Pope), how their style was, a lot of film. Once I saw that, I was like this looks like a great guy to play for.”

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The two went on to discuss Aberdeen’s role at Kentucky in more depth, including how Pope envisions him fitting into Kentucky’s new system — a system that, according to Aberdeen, is very similar, if not better than the one he just left.

“We had a lot of great players at Florida, especially the tall bigs. Bigs that love to run there, and we have just as much here; our bigs love to run, they play defense, and they play at a fast pace. So I think the things that we’ve got here are just as good, or even better,” Aberdeen said.

Averaging 7.7 points and nearly 20 minutes per game off the bench for the Gators last year, it’s clear to see what Aberdeen brings to the team: experience, versatility, calmness in the backcourt, and championship pedigree. Pope’s phone conversation with Aberdeen wasn’t just impactful on the court — it also speaks volumes to what he is doing off the court in pursuit of the goal he laid out in his introductory press conference: to hang banners.

This phone call wasn’t just about Denzel Aberdeen. It was a glimpse into Pope’s player-first, transparent coaching approach, which could define his era at Kentucky — and potentially make this season a special one, with Aberdeen playing another key role in a deep NCAA Tournament run.

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“I know the goal is to win No. 9,” he said. “I know the fans want that, we want that, all the staff and coaches want that. That pushes us. We know what we gotta do when we come here and put on that Kentucky jersey. Just playing for the University of Kentucky is a big thing. Being here is a blessing, and I can’t look back.”

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Men's Basketball

La Familia’s Lexington Regional Bracket Revealed

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Israel Schill | KY Insider

Kentucky’s alumni team, La Familia, has officially unveiled the bracket for The Basketball Tournament’s (TBT) Lexington Regional.

The No. 1 seeded alumni will face off against Stroh’s Squad (Bowling Green) in the opening round on Friday, July 18 with a late 9:00 p.m. ET tip time.

The Lexington Regional will take place at Memorial Coliseum from July 18-22, where Kentucky will host a plethora of teams looking to grab some gold.

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Familiar teams, such as Eberlein Drive, who former Wildcat Archie Goodwin used to play for and who have been around since the beginning of TBT, will lead the bottom of the bracket. In the second round, Big Blue Nation may see a way-too-early SEC matchup, technically, with the Auburn Tigers’ alumni team, War Ready.

The name is definitely fitting, obviously a play on Auburn’s “War Eagle” call, but as a whole defines the type of play that the TBT unleashes against every competitor.

When asked about who the “alpha dog” will be on this year’s team, someone who is going to be ready to go to war, general manager Twany Beckham admitted he emphasized finding guys like that during the offseason.

“That was one thing, you know when we lost last year, I feel like that Ohio State team, I’m not gonna say punked us because our guys played extremely hard,” said Beckham before head coach Sean Woods budded in and said “they were more physical.”

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“When I sat down after the season was over last year I sad to myself, ‘I want nine to 10 dogs’, and I think we did that with this roster,” Beckham added.

The winner of the Lexington Regional will play the winner of the Louisville Regional in the quarterfinals on Monday, July 28, at 6 p.m. ET on FS1, the team also announced recently.

Below is the entire bracket for the 2025 tournament:

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Men's Basketball

Top Guard Prospect Taylen Kinney Takes Official Visit to Kentucky

Perhaps the most highly touted guard in the 2026-27 class, Taylen Kinney has begun his visit to Kentucky – Mark Pope is on the clock.

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Taylen Kinney takes his official visit to Kentucky.
USA TODAY NETWORK

Directly following his involvement with Mark Pope and Jasper Johnson at the USA U19 basketball camp, Taylen Kinney has taken an official visit to Kentucky.

One of the top guards in the nation, Kinney is a native of Newport, Kentucky. As a result, naturally, both Louisville and Kentucky are in strong pursuit — among pulls on both sides, one potential advantage Kentucky has over their in-state rivals is Kinney’s extensive past ties to the aforementioned Jasper Johnson.

The two blue bloods manned the backcourt together for the Overtime Elite RWE team during the 2024-25 season. With Johnson being the first to pull the trigger in taking on the blue and white, the onus is on Kinney to potentially rekindle the duo’s dominant guard play in a new setting.

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Given Jasper’s potential for multiple years in Lexington, the likelihood that he could impact Kinney’s recruitment is all the more tangible.

The 6-foot-2 floor general stayed firmly put in the 2026-27 class, despite rumors of a reclassification, ranking atop national lists across the board as arguably the best available at his position. And while a timetable for Kinney’s ultimate decision hasn’t yet shaken out, it’s clear that the blue and red rivals each hold a powerful stake in his recruitment.

Regardless of the rumors, if Mark Pope gets a guy on campus, there’s a solid shot the Cats can capitalize on a commitment. When one battle ends for Kentucky’s staff, the next begins — if nothing else, it’s clear that the team has already started working towards as solid a roster next season as they put together for the one that’s about to begin.

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