One of the best games of the college basketball season took place on Saturday as Nate Oats and No. 4 Alabama went on the road to Rupp Arena to take on Mark Pope and No. 8 Kentucky in Lexington. The two teams battled back and forth in a high-scoring affair before Alabama eventually made a few more plays to come out on top 102-97.

Kentucky basketball is no stranger to top 15 matchups this season, and on Saturday they will be playing their third-straight top 15 game at home this season, th

Mark Pope is in his first year coaching the Kentucky basketball team, and he has a good squad on his hands. The Wildcats are 14-3 and 3-1 in the loaded SEC, and Buzz Williams believes that they have the tools to win it all.

“Alabama right now is, of course, they’ve always been so potent, demanding shooting guards’ space, their pace is elite, ” Pope said. “I don’t know if the metrics change every but they are one of the fastest-playing teams in the country.”

Mark Pope’s UK team fell behind by 13 points at halftime and eventually lost by that same margin, 82-69, to Georgia in the Wildcats’ first SEC road game of the season.

For the first time under Mark Pope’s leadership, UK basketball lost at Rupp Arena. The Kentucky coach explains a home defeat to Alabama.