New blood just proved, once again, that it runs college basketball now. And this time, it was at the expense of a blue-blood giant- AGAIN. For the third time, to be precise. After a win over Oklahoma, Kentucky was feeling good heading into the SEC quarterfinals. But Alabama didn’t care. UK walked into Bridgestone Arena hoping to pull off a revenge upset but instead, got run out of the gym. Bama steamrolled them 99-70. And Mark Pope was left with nothing to say but confess, feeling the weight of the situation.

And look, the Crimson Tide wasn’t just a little bit better—they dominated. Labaron Philon dropped 21 points (matching his career-high), Jarin Stevenson added 16, and Mark Sears, Aden Holloway, and Mouhamed Dioubate all put up 13. They controlled the glass with a 41-34 rebounding edge, and defensively? They had 11 steals to Kentucky’s six. 

And you know what else went wrong for the Wildcats? Turnovers. 

The Crimson Tide were absolute thieves on defense, forcing 16 turnovers and turning those into 29 points. Meanwhile, Kentucky only managed six off Alabama’s 10 giveaways. And if that wasn’t enough, Bama completely owned the transition game too, outscoring the Wildcats 19-3 on the fast break. That’s the ballgame right there. 

Speaking on turnover issue, Mark Pope put it bluntly: “We weren’t making our mistakes. We were making mistakes that were out of character for us.” Translation…Alabama’s pressure rattled them, just like in their previous two meetings. Kentucky has played Alabama three times this season. And three times, Alabama has walked away smiling. That’s not bad luck. That’s just a bad matchup. So, that pressure must have forced the Wildcats to act in ways they normally wouldn’t.

We don’t know how, though, because Kentucky’s turnover struggles have been a recurring issue. In a game against Ole Miss earlier this season, the Wildcats committed eight turnovers while forcing just one—endorsing their difficulty in disrupting opposing offenses. As for Alabama, they have posted a negative turnover margin this season (-2.4) and averaged 12.9 turnovers per game, while its opponents committed just 10.4. However, in this particular matchup, the Crimson Tide flipped the script.

And it hurt the most as this is UK’s worst SEC Tournament loss in school history. The previous worst was a 17-point loss against Florida in the 2005 championship game. And for Alabama, those 99 points are also the most ever scored against the Wildcats in the history of the conference tournament.

And the way they did it! UA may have let UK hang around in the first half (still maintaining the lead, though), but once the second half started, it was all Crimson Tide. They completely took over, outscoring the Wildcats 54-32 and never letting them take the lead—not even once. Pure control from start to finish.

This is actually part of a concerning trend for Kentucky. Throughout the season, they’ve struggled in the second half against top-tier teams. In six of their eight losses before this game, they were outscored by at least 10 points in the final 20 minutes. This wasn’t just Alabama’s dominance—it was Kentucky’s inability to adjust mid-game.

And if this game proved anything, it’s that Kentucky’s injury struggles are catching up to them in a big way. But while things looked rough on the court, there was at least one silver lining—we got a positive injury update.

Mark Pope’s big update on Lamont Butler will have Kentucky fans relieved

Kentucky’s night against Alabama was rough, especially without Lamont Butler and Otega Oweh getting hurt after a brutal clash. The star guard was sidelined after suffering an injury against Oklahoma, and when he didn’t suit up, it raised some serious concerns. Was this something that would keep him out of the NCAA Tournament? 

Things weren’t looking great—until Mark Pope came through with a major update that should have Wildcats fans breathing a whole lot easier. Before Kentucky even took the floor against Alabama, Pope shared some much-needed good news.

“We got the best possible news about Lamont. He’s gonna be in good shape, but we’re going to sit him tonight just to make sure,” he said. Given the soreness, it wasn’t worth the risk to play him, but the key takeaway is that the injury wasn’t as serious as many feared. “It would probably be a stretch to play him tonight because he’s got some soreness, but it was really good news this morning. We look forward to having him as we move forward.”

That’s the kind of statement that tells you Butler should be back sooner rather than later.  Then, after the loss, Pope gave even more clarity. A lot of people assumed Butler had reaggravated his shoulder injury, but it turns out that wasn’t the case at all. “It was a totally different, unique injury, and the imaging was perfect,” Pope explained. That’s about as reassuring as it gets. 

With March Madness right around the corner, it makes sense to play it safe now rather than risk something bigger down the line.  So, assuming Butler is good to go, this team is about to get its floor general back, and they desperately need him.