SEC REPORT: Kentucky, Alabama set to face off.
FAYETTEVILLE — The SEC will present an intriguing battle of undefeated league teams in prime time for the second week in a row tonight when Alabama travels to face Kentucky.
The Crimson Tide (83, 4-0 SEC) and Wildcats (4-6, 3-0) tip it off at 8 p.m. Central from Rupp Arena in Lexington, Ky.
Alabama, ranked one position outside of The Associated Press Top 25 on Monday, holds sole possession of first place in the conference after taking out fellow SEC unbeaten Florida last Tuesday, then surviving a 94-90 shootout at Auburn on Saturday.
Kentucky is a half-game behind, unbeaten in the new year after its head-scratching 1-6 mark in non-conference play
The Wildcats are coming off a surprising 76-58 rout of Florida at ExacTech Arena in Gainesville, Fla., their biggest win there since 1998.
Kentucky leads the SEC in three-point shooting in conference play at 46.8%, more than three percentage points better than secondplace Mississippi State (43.6%). The Wildcats, Bulldogs and Vanderbilt (41.3%) are the only teams shooting better than 40% from three-point range in league play.
Alabama’s defense has been its calling card more than its prolific three-point shooting to open conference play. The Crimson Tide rank second in field goal defense (37.9%) and three-point defense (27.2%) in league games, trailing only South Carolina, which has played just one conference game. Alabama is third in scoring defense in league games at 72 points per game.
This will be the first of two meetings between Alabama and Kentucky, which leads the series by an overwhelming 114-38 count, including 12 of the last 13 meetings.
Alabama’s win at Auburn was the 1,700th in school history and it snapped a fivegame losing streak at Auburn Arena.
Kentucky shot 55.6% and had a season-high tying 18 assists while holding Florida to 37.5% shooting.
“I thought they were really good with their interior offense, with their interior passing, with their decisions versus some of the defensive looks that we gave them,” Florida Coach Michael White said.
“They shot a really high percentage. … I thought they handled the ball pretty well and executed what they wanted for the most part. They had their way with us offensively, and then came in here and locked us up as well.”