🏀 Men's Basketball Ready for No. 1 Kentucky on Saturday

[Alabama Men's Basketball]

Alabama will return home to Coleman Coliseum when it hosts the No. 1-ranked Kentucky Wildcats on Saturday, Jan. 17, at 3 p.m. CT on ESPN.

Saturday's game will mark the 10th time in program era that the Tide will play against the Associated Press' No. 1-ranked team. Alabama has a record of 4-5 when playing the top-ranked team in the country.

It also marks the fourth time Alabama has played host to the nation's No. 1 team, holding a 2-1 record in previous contests. The last time it occurred came on Jan. 8, 1994 when the Tide defeated then-No. 1 Arkansas, 66-64.

Saturday's game is officially sold out, it was announced on Jan. 7. It will mark the Tide's first sellout since playing in front of a full house two years ago against the same Kentucky Wildcats.Alabama won that contest, 59-55, on Jan. 22, 2013.

It will mark the first of two meetings in a span of two weeks between the Tide and Wildcats. Alabama and Kentucky will square off in Lexington, Ky., on Saturday, Jan. 31 at 6 p.m. CT on SEC Network.

From Rolltide.com—Continue reading...

 

[Bamabww]

January 16, 2015

Alabama prepares for No. 1 Kentucly

Cecil Hurt

It's probably the biggest college basketball game that will be played in the state of Alabama all year. There won't be a game that attracts more fans, or generates more conversation. The No. 1 basketball team in the country, the Kentucky Wildcats, bring a 16-0 record to Coleman Coliseum to face the Alabama Crimson Tide, which has a perfect 10-0 record on its home floor and a solid 12-4 mark overall. The 3 p.m. game will be nationally televised by ESPN.

Alabama head coach Anthony Grant and guard Levi Randolph took the stoic approach to the game.

Grant noted, without specifics, that Kentucky was "a very good team" and "very well-coached," but gave no specific quotes when asked about Andrew and Aaron Harrison in the UK backcourt or the huge size advantage that UK - with four highly-skilled players over 6-foot-10 - would enjoy against a team that was badly outrebounded (33-23) in its last game at South Carolina.

"They're very good," Grant noted. "They have great depth, great size and great speed."

To fill in the blanks quickly, Kentucky has so many players that the great debate in the basketball-crazy Bluegrass State is about the "two-platoon system" that Calipari has implemented at times this season. Although the top players are probably 7-foot junior Willie Cauley-Stein and 6-11 freshman Karl Anthony Towns in the frontcourt and the Harrison twins in the backcourt, that hardly tells the full story of UK's depth or talent. The Wildcats have had close games recently - most notably overtime victories against Ole Miss and Texas A&M - but have also been overwhelming at times, as in an 86-37 destruction of Missouri in their last game.

Kentucky coach John Calipari, who has lost on his two previous visits to Tuscaloosa as UK coach (2011 and 2013) said Thursday that he expects "a tough game."

"We haven't won down there, have we?," he asked. "I took a team from Memphis in there and won, but not since I've been here.

"This game is going to be different because these guys are really physical," Calipari said. "They disrupt your offense. You've got to be strong with the ball. They will trap our post and we've got to play off that."

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