Alabama’s Unstoppable 3-Point Attack

No opponent is going to stop Alabama from shooting 3s. Come hell or high water, the Crimson Tide will find a way to let it fly from long range. Yet Kentucky basketball, it appeared, at least was equipped to make Alabama’s attempts more difficult; the Wildcats entered Saturday limiting foes to a 28.9% success rate on 3s — tied for 32nd nationally and matching South Carolina for the third-best percentage among SEC teams.

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That did Kentucky little good, though. In a clash at Coleman Coliseum on Saturday, the Crimson Tide’s high-flying attack overwhelmed the Wildcats. The hosts had their way, handing UK an 89-74 defeat in Tuscaloosa, Alabama.

UA finished with 38 3-point attempts, right on schedule with its average of 36.5 per game, which is most in the country alongside Florida State and Charleston Southern. The Crimson Tide cashed in on 15 of them. Those 15 makes are the most any foe has had against Kentucky (9-5, 0-1 SEC) in Mark Pope’s tenure. Additionally, it’s tied for the third-most triples allowed in a game in UK history.

“Alabama’s a good team. They’re a good team,” Pope said during a postgame interview with UK’s radio network. “They shot it extremely well, which is what they do. I thought we had some breakdowns communication-wise. Defensively, we were really inconsistent. That was unfortunate.”

For Alabama (11-3, 1-0), Saturday was the continuation of its recent domination in the series. For the first time, the Crimson Tide has won four straight games against the Wildcats. The four losses for UK during this run have been at Pope’s expense after Alabama won all three meetings last season.

“To me, Kentucky is kind of that standard bearer,” said coach Nate Oats, who improved to 7-5 versus Kentucky during his tenure at UA. “They’ve won the most games, the most championships. They’ve got all this tradition — and you respect it. They’ve got very high expectations over there right now. So for us to get them three times last year and get them the first time this year? I think we’ve gotten our program to (where) I’m very disappointed when we don’t win a championship around here.”

Pope only can hope to get his program to the level of Oats’. While the Wildcats have a far longer track record of success, since Oats took over in Tuscaloosa, he’s turned Alabama into the league’s most consistent club. He’s captured two conference regular-season championships, a pair of SEC Tournament titles, and in 2024, led Alabama to its first Final Four appearance. Last season, the Crimson Tide advanced to the Elite Eight. The Crimson Tide has been in three straight Sweet 16s, reaching at least that round four of the past five seasons.

And Oats’ outfit has done it the same way each time, leaning on a 3-point-heavy approach. Which, of course, Kentucky knew all too well.

“They have shooters all over the floor, which is just Alabama basketball,” Pope said during his postgame news conference. “We actually had good success when we could get there to contest shots, but we just didn’t get there enough. And they had good ball movement. They caused problems in the two-man game where they caused some confusion. We had stretches where we communicated well and stretches where we didn’t.”

Perhaps the most stunning aspect of Alabama’s output from distance Saturday: Labaron Philon, the SEC’s leading scorer at nearly 22 points per outing, missed all six 3s he hoisted. Instead, the Crimson Tide relied on Amari Allen, Aden Holloway and Houston Mallette. That trio combined to sink 72.2% (13 for 18) of their shots beyond the arc Saturday.

The Wildcats simply didn’t execute their defensive game plan.

“It starts in practice with our mindset and the way that we prepare,” point guard Jaland Lowe said during a postgame radio interview. “We’ve got to start from there.”

Pope couldn’t dispute that assessment.

“I think our group is frustrated right now, for sure,” Pope said during his postgame radio interview. “Listen, coaching is not telling guys stuff. Coaching is — anybody can tell guys stuff. Coaching is putting it inside them so that they can come perform. And we didn’t tonight.”

Conversely, Lowe said it’s not all on Pope and his staff. Players themselves, Lowe said, must adapt in real time to variations in a given game. The Wildcats failed to do so, repeatedly, on Saturday. Thus the result.

“A team like that, with a lot of great players, a lot of great shooters, you’ve just got to find a way to dig in and get some stops. You know, figure it out,” Lowe said. “We figured it out too late, and we got punished for that.”