It will go down as another victory over a team shorthanded due to injury, but UK won't complain. Alabama arrived at the Georgia Dome crippled with two starters suffering injuries--Ronald Steele, with season-long injuries in his ankles and knees, and Jermareo Davidson, with an injury to his back suffered in practice Friday. Both players played, but neither were effective for the Tide.
Steele managed just 12 minutes in the game--all in the first half--and managed just two points and one assist. His main contribution appeared to be getting Kentucky's Jodie Meeks out of the game after losing him twice in the first half on drives to the basket. Davidson's contributions were more concrete, scoring 12 points, grabbing seven rebounds and dishing three assists. Richard Hendrix led Alabama with 21`points and matched Davidson's seven rebounds.
The story of the game was the intensity shown by the Wildcats; something sometimes missing during ballgames this season. Bradley bottled up Tide point guard Brandon Hollinger, often forcing him to force a pass and kept the Alabama offense out of sync. Morris similarly displayed strong moves to the basket when the ball was delivered to him, and often showed a tenaciousness when rebounding the ball that was contagious. "I tried to change in the game, you know, toughness, energy, and playing and doing whatever was necessary to get the victory," Morris explained. "usually the person or team that wins the game is the team that gets to the loose balls quicker and wins the hustle games and chases down rebounds, you know. So that's generally what we tried to do. Today it looked like everything was going our way in that category."
Bradley agreed--"It was important that we came out and showed toughness and played with a lot of intensity for 40 minutes today," the junior guard added. "Well, being looked up to as a leader, I realize it has to start with me, and when we're out there I try to have my intensity on defense. I know when I pressure the ball, show emotion, it trickles down to the other players."
The game represented the second consecutive time--and only the second time all year--that Kentucky placed five players in double figures. In addition to the 17 points scored by Morris and Bradley, Joe Crawford added 16, with Jodie Meeks scoring 12 off the bench and Bobby Perry adding 10.
Kentucky trailed Alabama by 10 in the first half before the Cats turned it around. Coach Tubby Smith praised freshman Meeks' play in the comeback. "Jodie came off the bench in the first half, you know, the energy level, he scored a basket. He's instant offense when he comes in there, as Randolph mentioned. He's got it, he's tough, he plays with a lot of emotion, plays with a lot of heart, and he can score in many ways; he can make the outside shot, he's a very good ball handler, he's defending better. So I really like the way he's handled and conducted himself all year long. Showed a lot of, as Randolph said, poise and maturity."
"Jodie came off the bench in the first half, you know, the energy level, he scored a basket. He's instant offense when he comes in there, as Randolph mentioned. He's got it, he's tough, he plays with a lot of emotion, plays with a lot of heart, and he can score in many ways; he can make the outside shot, he's a very good ball handler, he's defending better. So I really like the way he's handled and conducted himself all year long. Showed a lot of, as Randolph said, poise and maturity. I knew he was mature enough physically, but he's shown a lot of mental and psychological maturity. I knew he was mature enough physically, but he's shown a lot of mental and psychological maturity."
With the win, Kentucky moves to 21-10 on the season, and will face Mississippi State in the 2nd round of the SEC tournament tomorrow at 1:00 p.m. Alabama falls to 20-11, and awaits word on whether their postseason play will arrive in the NCAA or the N.I.T.