Kentucky too much for Alabama

TUSCALOOSA, Ala. — There were some exciting stretches but never an uncomfortable moment for No. 1 Kentucky.

The Wildcats steamrolled Alabama 70-48 on Saturday at sold-out Coleman Coliseum.

The 48 points were a season low for Alabama.

The Wildcats had three players score in double figures, but none of them were starters. Freshman guard Devin Booker led Kentucky with 13 points, knocking down three 3-pointers.

“It’s like I’m shooting in the ocean now,” Booker said. “It’s really coming easy for me. At the beginning of the year, I started out in a slump. But I told everybody that shooters keep shooting. That’s what I did and now they’re falling.”

Center Dakari Johnson and guard Tyler Ulis each contributed 11 points off the bench for the Wildcats.

Kentucky coach John Calipari credited Johnson’s play in the post on the offensive end as the difference.

“I told guys, ‘If you don’t throw it to the post, you’re coming out,'” Calipari said. “It’s pretty simple.”

Forward Willie Cauley-Stein’s nine points were the most by a Kentucky starter.

“We’re not just trying to play with (teams),” Cauley-Stein said. “We’re trying to demoralize them.”

Senior guard Levi Randolph led Alabama with 13 points, the 16th time he has scored in double digits. Senior guard Rodney Cooper added 10 points. No other Alabama player had more than six.

“You have to give Kentucky credit because I thought they played really well today,” Tide coach Anthony Grant said. “They’re obviously the No. 1 team in the country for a reason.

“You look at the size, the length, their ability to defend. It was difficult to find quality shots against them. I thought that was the difference in the game in the first half as they were able to extend their lead.”

After scoring only 17 points in the opening half, the Tide had 31 after halftime.

Alabama cut its deficit to 39-30, but that was as close as the Tide came. Kentucky went on an 18-4 run to break the game open.

“It’s a 40-minute ballgame and things happen along the way that you have to adjust to,” Randolph said. “We just have to keep chopping away in games.”

Kentucky dominated Alabama in every aspect during the first half en route to a 35-17 lead.

The Wildcats held the Crimson Tide to three points in the final 9:31 of the half. No Alabama player scored more than five points while the team shot 32 percent from the field (7 of 22).

Randolph had five points to lead the Tide in the first 20 minutes.

The Wildcats outrebounded Alabama 19-9 in the opening half, including six offensive rebounds that led to seven second-chance points.

Kentucky’s platoon substitutions wore down Alabama in the first half as 7-footer after 7-footer rotated in. The Wildcats shot 52 percent from the field (12 of 23), including 40 percent from 3-point range (4 of 10).

“We got back to playing ‘you’re in, you’re out,'” Calipari said. “You know your minutes. It gives them a chance to know when they’re going back in. They get a nice rhythm going offensively. I think that’s what’s happening. And they’re cheering for each other which we kind of got away from.”

Kentucky (17-0, 4-0 SEC) will host Vanderbilt on Tuesday. Alabama (12-5, 2-2) will play at Arkansas on Thursday.

NOTES: Alabama PG Ricky Tarrant was replaced by Retin Obasohan. Tarrant came off the bench and played the majority of the game. Tide coach Anthony Grant said Tarrant suffered a lower leg injury in the team’s previous game that limited him. … The 17 first-half points were a season low for Alabama. … Nine Kentucky players scored in the first half. … Kentucky’s defense held Alabama to a season-low 48 points. … Kentucky’s win was the largest margin over Alabama since the 1991-92 season when the Wildcats defeated the Tide 80-54.