Nate Oats and Mark Pope are two of the best offensive players in college basketball. Their brilliance was on display Saturday at Rupp Arena as Alabama and Kentucky combined for 199 points in a 102-97 win for the Crimson Tide. Offensively (and defensively, to be honest), this game went exactly as we expected.
“Coach Pope knows what he’s doing,” Oats said after the game. “He also knows who he’s up against. We play a little chess sometimes. »
It certainly looked like a game of chess; two great basketball minds clashed in an intra-Top 10 matchup.
Alabama shot 45 percent from the field, made 13 threes and was 29-of-34 from the free throw line. Meanwhile, Kentucky’s shooting distribution was just as good:
shot 48 percent from the field, made 11 threes and was 16-of-20 from the field. The Crimson Tide’s +13 advantage at the free throw line made the difference in a game that saw 46 fouls. The defense was tough, but we can chalk that up to the nearly unstoppable offense from both benches.
Big Blue Nation wants to see the end result go in their favor. It’s obviously hard to win every game, especially in the SEC. Kentucky enters the Alabama game with an 11-0 home record and a 5-0 record against ranked opponents. Both streaks end Saturday.
But Oats, who has been rumored to replace John Calipari at UK, shared the same vision as athletic director Mitch Barnhart when he hired Pope in April.
“I think it was a good call,” Oats said of Kentucky hiring Pope. “He played here, he knows what this place is like. I saw some of his teams at BYU from afar. You see his offensive production, he’s going to be able to recruit players at Kentucky.
“When they hired him, it made perfect sense. His presentation – I don’t know if you could call it a press conference because of the way they presented it. It was fantastic. I think Mark is a great guy. It seemed to me like the state welcomed him with open arms. Obviously they lost today, but we’re a good team. “At the end of the day, it’s not going to be a bad loss for them. They’re a very good team. This is their first loss at home since he’s been here. He’s done an incredible job, they’re playing a very good style of basketball, I think that makes sense. I’m happy for him.”
Big Blue Nation wants to see the end result go in their favor. It’s obviously hard to win every game, especially in the SEC. Kentucky enters the Alabama game with an 11-0 home record and a 5-0 record against ranked opponents. Both streaks end Saturday.
But Oats, who has been rumored to replace John Calipari at UK, shared the same vision as athletic director Mitch Barnhart when he hired Pope in April.
“I think it was a good call,” Oats said of Kentucky hiring Pope. “He played here, he knows what this place is like. I saw some of his teams at BYU from afar. You see his offensive production, he’s going to be able to recruit players at Kentucky.
“When they hired him, it made perfect sense. His presentation – I don’t know if you could call it a press conference because of the way they presented it. It was fantastic. I think Mark is a great guy. It seemed to me like the state welcomed him with open arms. Obviously they lost today, but we’re a good team. “At the end of the day, it’s not going to be a bad loss for them. They’re a very good team. This is their first loss at home since he’s been here. He’s done an incredible job, they’re playing a very good style of basketball, I think that makes sense. I’m happy for him.”
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