Whenever a top ten team comes into Rupp Arena, the crowd is always incredible, but something felt different about this matchup between #6 Florida and #10 Kentucky. This was one of the best Rupp Arena crowds in recent memory, and the players felt it.

The arrival of Mark Pope has turned back the clock on the Rupp Arena crowds, which had been getting angsty by the end of the John Calipari era.

Kentucky basketball, for the first time under Mark Pope, lost at Rupp Arena on Saturday. The Kentucky Wildcats weren't able to slow Alabama's offense.

Three takeaways from Saturday’s SEC basketball opener between the Kentucky Wildcats and Florida Gators at Rupp Arena.

Jaxson Robinson was brought to Lexington to be the star of this Kentucky basketball team, and he has had some early season struggles. He is averaging 12.1 point

Grant Nelson rocks blue bloods. A 6-foot-11, 230-pound super-senior, Nelson was a matchup nightmare for Kentucky. The Alabama forward finished with 25 points, 11 rebounds and two assists. UK forwards Andrew Carr and Ansley Almonor each picked up four fouls trying to stay in front of Nelson.

Two of the nation’s highest-scoring teams in college basketball collide Saturday at Rupp Arena when the eighth-ranked Kentucky Wildcats play host to No. 4 Alabama Crimson Tide. The start time is noon on ESPN, with Dan Shulman and Jay Bilas serving as the broadcast team.

No. 4 Alabama’s pulsating 102-97 road victory against No. 8 Kentucky — which snapped UK’s 15-game home winning streak — was powered by a massive scoring performance by Crimson Tide fifth-year forward Grant Nelson, who tallied a game-high 25 points as Nate Oats’ team scored an impressive road win.

Kentucky ranks 13th nationally in first-half scoring, while Alabama has posted the second-most points of any team in the opening 20 minutes. This game should be played at a frenetic pace, and clearing the 40-point mark prior to halftime won’t be a tough ask of either offense.

The Crimson Tide bounced back from a loss at home to Ole Miss on Tuesday by scoring 100-plus points for the fifth time this season.

SportsLine's model just revealed its college basketball picks for the Alabama Crimson Tide vs. Kentucky Wildcats on Saturday afternoon

Guard Chris Youngblood, who transferred from South Florida, knocked down a pair of crucial three-pointers late in the second half to further Alabama's momentum. Center Cliff Omoruyi played one of the best games of his season as his interior presence on both sides of the ball was essential. Omoruyi finished with 12 points and seven rebounds.