Coming off the worst defensive effort of the season in Wednesday's 110-98 loss to Missouri, Alabama basketball needed a much-improved effort on that end of the court against Kentucky on Saturday. The Wildcats came to Tuscaloosa boasting one of the nation's most efficient and high-powered offenses.
Alabama needed its leaders - particularly its four fifth-year seniors - to step up and lead the charge. That's exactly what they got and the Crimson Tide knocked off the Wildcats 96-83 to break a two-game losing streak.
Alabama got off to its customary rough start; Kentucky led 20-9 just a little over five minutes into the game and the defensive effort looked eerily similar to the game against Missouri. But the Crimson Tide locked in from there and finished the first half on a 38-20 run. For the game, Alabama held Kentucky to just 42% shooting from the floor and 34% from three-point range. They also forced 13 turnovers, something that has plagued them defensively all season long.
Nate Oats gave the credit for the renewed defensive energy and effort to Alabama's four fifth-year seniors: Mark Sears, Chris Youngblood, Grant Nelson, and Cliff Omoruyi.
"We’ve got four fifth-year guys," said Oats. "This is the best Cliff’s played all year. Sears is playing his best basketball of the year. Chris Youngblood, this was as good as he’s played. I mean, obviously, that Mississippi State one when he hit all the 3s was huge. And you got to give Grant a little bit of a pass because of the foul trouble tonight."
Omoruyi won the hard hat tonight and finished with a season-high 15 rebounds to go along with 11 points. He struggled against quicker Missouri bigs on Wednesday but bounced back with a strong performance.
Sears had his second straight game with at least 30 points. He followed up the 35-point night at Missouri by scoring 30 on 17 shot attempts against Kentucky. Sears' defensive energy and effort was as impactful as his offense, too. He drove the dagger into Kentucky's hearts with a steal on the defensive end and then a pull-up three in transition that pushed Alabama's lead to 12 with two minutes to play.
Youngblood shook off a slow start and hit some big shots down the stretch, finishing with 14 points and hitting 3-of-5 from three. He led the team in +/- at +17.
And while foul trouble held Nelson to just 15 minutes, he made one of the key plays of the game in the first half. He helped turn the game around with an effort play in the first half, laying out to save a ball from going out-of-bounds when every other player on the court was content to watch. It led to a fast break basket by Sears that cut the deficit to six.
That kind of effort is contagious, especially when its by one of your senior leaders.
"Those four guys, I think, are determined to change the narrative about this team on the defensive end," said Oats.
Alabama basketball has shown it can defend at a high level... for stretches
Consistent effort on the defensive end has been a problem for Alabama, but they've shown they can defend well for stretches. Against Kentucky, Alabama gave up 104.2 points per 100 possessions. It was much improved from the 139.9 against Missouri and the 119.9 against Auburn. It was the first time since the win over Georgia that Alabama held an opponent under 105.0 per 100 possessions.
It was just the sixth time in 14 conference games.
Alabama moved up to No. 44 in defensive efficiency, per KenPom, following the win on Saturday. The Tide proved last season it could flip a switch and play much better on the defensive end when it mattered the most. They spent most of last year as a below-average defense and turned it up a notch in the NCAA Tournament as they made a run to the Final Four.
They'll have to keep improving and play to a level we haven't yet seen this year if they want to have a legitimate shot of winning it all. They can make the Final Four as is, but getting over that hump and winning the whole thing will take a more consistent effort.
No team has won the National Championship in the KenPom era with a defense that ranked outside the Top 25 in efficiency.