Alabama basketball steamrolls Kentucky for Tide's largest victory margin over UK in 90 years

Forget the fact Kentucky isn’t ranked. And sure, the Wildcats doesn’t appear to be as good as some of coach John Calipari's previous teams.

A win over Kentucky is always going to be a good one. A victory over any basketball blue blood is a solid addition to the resume.

Especially a dominant one. Alabama defeated the Wildcats 78-52 on Saturday in front of a packed Coleman Coliseum and a nationally televised audience. The Crimson Tide’s body of work gets more impressive by the day.

It was Alabama's largest margin of victory against Kentucky since 1933-34 when the Crimson Tide won 51-17.

Here are observations and takeaways from the game between No. 7 Alabama (13-2, 3-0 SEC) and Kentucky (10-5, 1-2).

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Mark Sears clutch on defense in first half, then on offense

Just call guard Mark Sears the Kentucky disrupter. He was a problem for the Wildcats throughout the game.

Alabama needed to keep Kentucky from having its usual success on the offensive glass. Kentucky entered the game No. 4 in the country in offensive rebounding per KenPom. The Crimson Tide needed to limit those second-chances, and few were more effective at it than Sears.

The Ohio transfer isn’t tall by any means, but his hustle to crash underneath the basket and hustle for defensive rebounds was vital in limiting Kentucky.

His defensive success extended past that, though. He had a knack for taking the ball away from the Wildcats.

At one point late in the first half, Brandon Miller turned the ball over, and Sears had to get back on defense. Within moments, Sears took it right back from Kentucky’s Adou Thiero.

There was another moment later in the first half when Oscar Tshiebwe grabbed the rebound. Before he could get a shot up, Sears stole the basketball from him.

By the end of the first half, Sears had four defensive rebounds and four steals.

Then in the second half, Sears heated up offensively.

His shooting was key in Alabama quickly adding onto its lead that all but put the game out of reach. Sears only had three points in the first half, but it didn't take long before he had double-digit scoring in the second half alone, hitting multiple triples.

Sears finished with 16 points, six rebounds, four assists and six steals.

Charles Bediako answers the bell vs. Oscar Tshiebwe

If Alabama wanted to compete with Kentucky, Tshiebwe was going to need to be a big part of that. That fell primarily on the shoulders of Alabama center Charles Bediako.

He stepped up right away, and often.

The second-year big man from Canada made an impact quickly against the defending defending national player of the year.

He scored on the first possession, then on the other end of the floor, his defense prevented Tshiebwe from scoring. The next possession, Bediako scored again. Alabama took an early lead largely thanks to Bediako.

Bediako had eight points in the first half, tied for the lead among Alabama players. Meanwhile, Tshiebwe didn’t score at all, went 0-for-4 and only had two rebounds. The Kentucky center averages a double-double normally.

Tshiebwe didn't score his first bucket until 11:20 remained in the game.

He remained a non-factor for most of the game. Tshiebwe finished with four points and six rebounds. That's largely thanks to Bediako, who asserted himself throughout the matchup.

Beidako got a standing ovation when he exited the game with three minutes left, and it was deserved.

Brandon Miller with another big game on another big stage

Miller was quiet to start the game, but by the end of the first half, he was starting to get going.

That only continued in the second half. His scoring was a key piece of Alabama grabbing a significant second-half lead that at one point reached 31 points.

Miller finished with 19 points and seven rebounds.

This article originally appeared on The Tuscaloosa News: Alabama basketball routs Kentucky behind Mark Sears, Brandon Miller