Kentucky survived sloppy ball handling and an early offensive outburst from the visiting Alabama Crimson Tide to win 66-55 Tuesday night and move to 23-1 on the season.

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Victory in the Face of a Bad Game- This game was sloppy from the outset. Their was no rhythm to anything that the Cats tried to do. They weren't hitting jumpers early in the game. From the get go, this game was set up to be one where Kentucky just had to pull it out regardless of how they played, and they did that. No team plays well every game, and especially a team as young as the Cats. Games like this will continue to happen in SEC play. It's just nice to come out on the positive side.

John Wall- After the first half, Wall's play was a thumbs down due to his sloppy ball handling and poor decisions. He had six turnovers for the game. But in the second half, Wall started taking more control of what he and the team were doing, helping the Cats get over the hump to get the win. Wall finished with 22 points and ten rebounds. That is the most points he's score since he had 25 against UCONN on December 9. The ten rebounds is also a career high for Wall. The disappointing statistic for Wall was only two assists.

DeAndre Liggins- Liggins is quickly becoming the "glue guy" for this team. He does everything a player needs to do to get help his team win, which in turn is forcing Coach Calipari to give him more playing time. The sophomore had 8 points and 7 rebounds in 26 minutes of action. Darnell Dodson, Darius Miller, and Ramon Harris totaled 28 minutes between them.

DeMarcus Cousins- Sixteen points and thirteen rebounds seems kind of ho-hum from Cousins anymore, but it at least deserves a mention, right?

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Ball Movement- The cause of the sloppy ball handling and 16 turnovers was a lack of movement on offense. Wall and Eric Bledsoe think they can get anywhere at any time by dribbling the ball into tight spaces. Perhaps Coach Cal was trying to work a bit more on the dribble drive offense, but whatever it was it wasn't all that productive. Kentucky averages 16 assists a game, but only had ten against Alabama.

Energy- This probably goes hand in hand with the lack of ball movement, but this game just had clunker written all over it from the tip (that we didn't actually see). Perhaps it was the cold temperatures and snow falling in Lexington, but whatever it was there seemed to be absolutely no energy in Rupp Arena from the players on the court or the fans in the stands. Maybe everyone is saving their energy for the big day coming on Saturday when the Vols come to town. As was said earlier, this was just one of those games where you're happy it's over and you're happy it's a win.

Defense- This is more of an indictment on the first half defense than in the second half, but none of it was great. Eric Bledsoe continues to let his man drive around him and create havoc in the lane, and Wall wasn't much better. Defense starts with the ball pressure those two guys can present, and it ends with the big guys in the lane. That didn't happen for much of the night against Alabama.

In-bounds Defense- Alabama used the simplest out of bounds play with one of their guards stepping out towards the top of the key but coming back hard to the basket. It worked at least two times. That can't happen. Enough said.

Free Throws- With as big and powerful as Cousins, Patrick Patterson, and Daniel Orton are, combined with the driving ability of Wall and Bledsoe, this team is going to get to the free throw line. That is where the Cats should be able to score at least twenty points a game by shooting around 70 percent. Against the Tide, Kentucky shot just 61 percent making 19 of 31 attempts. Cousins has shown improvement throughout the year from the line and is averaging 66 percent, but he was just 4 of 8 tonight.

Their will be plenty of teaching points for Coach Cal from this game, which could be a good thing as the Cats will have to focus as College Gameday and the Tennessee Vols come to town on Saturday.