LEXINGTON, Ky. (WDRB) – So, that’s good Kentucky.
If, at any point during this yo-yo season for John Calipari’s talented Wildcats, you ever asked a “what if” question, Saturday in Rupp Arena against Alabama was a day for answers.
“What if Justin Edwards were to put it together?” Check.
“What if Kentucky played a modicum of defense and started forcing turnovers in bunches?” Check.
“What if Antonio Reeves went off?” Ok, nobody asked what if on that one. He does that virtually every game.
“What if Big Z was good and the rebounding was solid and everybody on the team made the extra pass every time and had a positive shooting game all at the same time?” Check. Check. Check to all.
The answer was a 117-95 Kentucky victory over No. 13 Alabama before a delirious crowd in Rupp Arena and a national CBS audience.
It was a Wildcat tour de force. Kentucky had 92 points in 29 minutes.
“Do you want to play Kentucky during the first weekend?” Bill Raftery of CBS asked during the broadcast.
Well, it all depends. At this point, we’ve seen good Kentucky. We saw them handle a good North Carolina team. We saw them win at Auburn. We also saw them turn around and lose at LSU.
And we saw them dominate Alabama for 30 minutes, but let off the gas in the final 10. So, let’s see if they can win three in a row before we start talking about them winning six in a row against top-level competition on a neutral court.
Still, you know, when they’re good, they’re really good. This was a game they played without Tre Mitchell. But the play of Edwards was a revelation. If he’s that good, and can play anything close to it consistently, it’s a game-changer for Kentucky.
Edwards had 13 points at halftime. In the press room, you can sometimes hear what the visiting team is shouting as it runs into its locker room, which is shielded from the rest of the room by a screen. Somebody from Alabama screamed in frustration, “He’s 3-for-3!”
Clearly, Edwards was not on the scouting report to go 5-for-5 in the first half. Or a school-record-matching 10-for-10 in the game. Or to score 28 points. It’s been a tough season for Edwards. He has plummeted in the NBA mock drafts, after being for a time the top-rated recruit in his class. It’s a lot of pressure.
"He lived in the gym," Calipari said of Edwards. "He made every shot but I took him out because he was reverting and doing spin moves and I told him, 'You're playing a perfect game. I'm not going to let you screw it up.'"
Edwards said he had been disappointed at times this season, but tried not to get down.
"I'd never been through a slump or adversity like that," Edwards said. "You don't have that in high school. But I didn't get down or anything. I knew that I just had to keep working hard and things would come around. I just stayed the course. I didn't think about having a great game. I just wanted to do the work. I didn't really lose confidence."
The loudest cheers in Rupp Arena for the day were reserved for Edwards' big threes. Though there was plenty to cheer about.
Kentucky’s 117 points were most ever scored against a Nate Oats-coached Alabama team. The Tide, playing without Latrell Wrightsell and Mohamed Wague, struggled to match Kentucky physically. But Kentucky, it can’t be discounted, hasn’t played a complete game without its full roster all season. Kentucky won’t give much sympathy. And on Saturday, it had no mercy on Alabama.
Kentucky shot 64% for the game, and while Alabama heated up late with the issue already settled, the Wildcats held the high-scoring Crimson Tide to 29 points in the first half.
"We looked awful," Alabama coach Nate Oats said. "Our defensive intensity was not good. I told our guys after the game we've had question marks about our defense all year. Those question marks are completely erased. Everybody knows we don't really guard at this point. I thought our effort stunk."
Reeves finished with 24 points for Kentucky, while Zvonimir Ivisic added 18, Rob Dillingham 16 and Adou Theiro 12.
"We shot 38 percent down at LSU and we didn't move the ball," Calipari said. "We didn't pass it to one another. We defended in the first half, which gave us a chance. And we still could have won, and I would've been really happy, 38 percent from the floor and we win a game. That means you were defending. But we didn't defend in the second half. You've got to win games all different kind of ways. . . . Go right down the line, we've got a full roster of guys who can all play basketball. . . . Different games we're going to have to play differently. I thought this one we might have to outscore them, because of how good they are offensively."
And score they did. Kentucky's 117 points were the most ever scored against an opponent ranked in the AP poll. Kentucky has now matched the 2016-17 team for most 100-point games in a season at UK, and the point total on Saturday was the second most in school history in an SEC game (second only to the 127 Kentucky scored in a game against LSU in March of 1995).
Next up for the Wildcats (19-8, 9-5) is a trip to Mississippi State on Tuesday night.
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