By Loveth 
Alabama’s men’s basketball team had a blowout win against Kentucky, cruising to a 99-70 victory in the SEC Tournament quarterfinals. They now move on to the semifinals, where they’ll face Florida on Saturday.
The game started with a lot of noise, with Kentucky fans filling the arena, but Alabama quickly silenced them. They took the lead right off the bat with a slick alley-oop between guard Labaron Philon and center Clifford Omoruyi. Kentucky briefly tied the game at 14, but Alabama wasn’t having it and went on a roll.
Philon was a key player in the first half, scoring 10 points and adding 3 assists, 3 steals, and a block. After halftime, he scored 8 more points in just the first few minutes, pushing Alabama’s lead to 57-44. From there, Kentucky had no answers for Alabama’s offensive firepower, both inside and from beyond the arc.
Mouhamed Dioubate, who Coach Oats had called on to step up, played great on both ends of the floor, finishing with 13 points and 8 rebounds. Jarin Stevenson and Aden Holloway also stepped up, with Holloway tying for the team lead in assists (4).
This time, Alabama was on the winning end of the turnover battle, forcing 16 turnovers while committing only 10. Alabama, the 3-seed, will take on 2-seed Florida next.