Packed to the banners, Rupp Arena wanted to explode all Tuesday night. The pace just never allowed it for the 23,000-plus.

So it settled for an uneven 25-point win.

Alabama's 78-53 loss in the SEC's largest arena was its second straight setback after catching fire a week earlier. The 16th-ranked Wildcats delivered a dose of reality while never releasing their grip on a night it controlled almost from the start. The lead reached peaked at 25 as Retin Obasohan had the only offensive spark for the visitors.

Retin Obasohan had 29 of the 53 points (55 percent of total) as the rest of the Tide struggled to find open looks. Justin Coleman was the next highest scorer with eight points. The Tide led for all of 16 seconds in the opening moments before Kentucky hit the gas.

Alabama coach Avery Johnson said it was "probably our worst performance in the SEC." The previous largest loss of league play was the 77-61 game with Kentucky in Coleman Coliseum on Jan. 9.

"We just didn't have the energy and confidence that we've had throughout SEC play," Johnson said. "We've been a team that played with confidence, whether we were at home or on the road. We just didn't have it tonight. But give (Kentucky) credit. They had a lot to do with it. They had that fire in their eyes. They were one step faster than us. They jumped about two steps higher than us."

Alabama (16-11, 7-8) will likely fall out of the NCAA tournament projections entering Saturday's 4 p.m. visit from Auburn. It had won six of seven and cracked the RPI top 30 before Saturday's upset loss from visiting Mississippi State.

Kentucky (21-7, 11-4) rebounded from a wild overtime loss at Texas A&M to remain atop the SEC standings.

Shooters 'gun shy'

Alabama's at its best when its shooting from long range. A week ago, it took 33 from behind the arc, making 11 in a 76-69 win at LSU.

At Kentucky, it shot just 15 from long range, making six.

"We had some open looks, for some reason some of our shooters were a little bit gun shy tonight," Johnson said.

What's behind that?

"I have to make sure I'm giving them enough confidence to shoot," Johnson said. "So we'll go back and figure out if they thought they were guarded, was the window open? Was it closed? We'll figure out why we had some hesitancy there."

Rough start

The early game issues returned for Alabama. It just took a few minutes to go south.

After hanging with Kentucky in the opening moments, Alabama lost its shooting touch. As the hosts built a 16-point edge, Alabama missed 15 of 16 shots after Obasohan's layup three minutes into the game. The shooting percentage dipped below 20 percent as the Tide had trouble finding anything in the painted area.

Kentucky's shooting issues kept the game from getting out of hand. It shot just 37.9 percent in the first half with a 2-for-11 spell late in the half. The Wildcats took a 33-21 lead to the locker room after Alabama scored the final four points.

Obasohan offense

It's a theme that hit another level Tuesday night. Obasohan was the extent of Alabama's first-half offense against Kentucky. The senior scored the first eight points and finished the half with 15 of Alabama's 21.

At one point, he took six of the nine shots from the field while making six of the eight first-half free throws.

"We're not a team where we are a one-man band," Johnson said. "We're normally better when we have three or four guys in double figures. Retin is obviously playing at a high level but we're much better when we move the ball and get guys to take and make shots."

Johnson said Kentucky did a good job of disrupting passing lanes to take the Alabama offense out of rhythm.

His buzzer-beating layup cut the halftime deficit to 12. Though he fell short of his career-high 35 set last week, Obasohan did it with just 13 attempts from the field. He made nine along with 10-for-12 shooting from the line.

Kentucky coach John Calipari said he was impressed with Obasohan's work ethic. Arriving at Rupp Arena two hours before tipoff, he was told Obasohan was already on the court shooting.

"I grabbed him and told him I heard you were in there really early," Calipari said. "I told him, just keep working. He's shooting the ball. He's driving. He gets to his right hand. He's got a soft touch around the basket."

Kentucky's balance

While Alabama was all Obasohan, Kentucky got offense from all over. Jamal Murray's 23 led the four double-figure scorers.

The Wildcats also had a major edge at the free-throw line. It made 22 of 28 while Alabama was 13 of 18.

Kentucky turned it over just four times and outrebounded Alabama 41-29.