TUSCALOOSA — Alabama basketball got back on track Saturday night. The Crimson Tide found itself in a hole yet again during its 96-83 win over Kentucky, but this time was able to battle out of it in the first half and pick up a much-needed bounce-back win.

Coach Nate Oats didn’t play around with his rotations to start the game. It didn’t provide the instant spark he was looking for, the constant changes eventually allowed Alabama to find its rhythm. A much-improved performance on the defensive end prevented a – albeit shorthanded — Wildcats team from doing its usual scoring damage. Excellent Tide ball movement created plenty of efficient offense to lead Alabama to a bounce-back win at home.

Here are three takeaways from Alabama’s win over Kentucky.

When these two teams met in Lexington, Kentucky, it was Alabama that got off to a 15-9 start on the Wildcats. Kentucky flipped the script Saturday, taking a 16-9 advantage into the first media timeout.

Alabama had a better first few minutes than it had against Missouri, but it still wasn’t what Oats was looking for after giving his group some extra rest in practice this week. Oats didn’t waste any time going to his bench. He took freshman guard Labaron Philon out of the game after just 64 seconds, only to sub him right back in after just a 30-second stint for Aden Holloway.

Oats continued his subbing strategy for the rest of the game. When a player made a mistake, he was yanked — at least for a short stint — even after making a positive contribution on offense. The result was a bevy of different lineups that ranged from having three guards on the court at one time, to deploying three bigs at once.

The constant rotation didn’t pay off until, ironically, Alabama was back with its original starting five. That group went on a 7-0 run to close the gap. It wasn’t the ideal opening few minutes, but Alabama did yet again show it can weather a storm. The Tide finished the first half on a 29-10 run to take a lead into halftime.

Holloway didn't let his quick shift in the first few minutes define his impact. The sophomore continues to be a massive spark off the bench for Alabama. He ended the game as the team's second-leading scorer with 19 points on 6 of 14 shooting, including five made 3s.

It's difficult for any team to achieve a perfect defensive outing against a Kentucky team that ranks No. 5 in adjusted offensive efficiency, according to KenPom.

But instead of letting its heads drop after a slow first few minutes like it did against Auburn and Missouri, Alabama course-corrected and played with much better defensive intensity than it has in its last two games.

The energy from Alabama was evident all game. Star guard Mark Sears was pumping up the crowd after a stop in the first half. Clifford Omoruyi did the same after another stop that turned into to a Holloway 3 and extended an Alabama run to 18-2. The team's defensive effort held Kentucky 20 points in the final 14:45 of the first half after the Wildcats scored 20 points in the opening 5:15.

The Tide deployed a few more lengthy lineups, including a group with Omoruyi, Aiden Sherrell and Jarin Stevenson in the first half — Oats debuted the Omoruyi-Sherrell lineup against Missouri and said it was a unit Alabama was able to turn to going forward.

Kentucky was without its second and third-leading scorers Jaxson Robinson and Lamont Butler, but it still has plenty of firepower and pounded the ball inside due to its limitations at guard. Alabama, however, was up to the task. Omoruyi in particular was a wrecking crew in the paint, finishing with 11 points and 15 rebounds. Kentucky scored 34 points in the paint, but Omoruyi held his own much better Saturday than he did against Missouri’s Mark Mitchell. Though he didn’t have a block, he was much more active on the glass to prevent second chances for Kentucky off of misses.

The one talented guard who did play was thoroughly bottled up for Alabama’s defense. Junior Otega Oweh leads Kentucky in scoring averaging 16.2 points per game, but he was far from that level of production, finishing with just two points on 1 of 9 shooting. He was hounded all game by Alabama’s guards, especially Philon, who made up for a lackluster offensive outing with two steals, a few poke aways and sustained defensive intensity to help prevent Oweh from taking over the game.

Kentucky averaged 1.3 points per possession in the first half when these two teams played in Lexington. Alabama’s defense held Kentucky to just 1.11 points per possession in the first half Saturday and 1.07 for the game. Personnel certainly played a major factor for the Wildcats, but Alabama didn’t make anything easy and took every advantage it could off the Wildcats' mistakes, turning 13 Kentucky turnovers into 24 points.

Things were flowing better on both sides of the ball for Alabama. Its defense stepped up to the task against a free-scoring Wildcats squad and the offense continued to find buckets and limit mistakes from piling up.

Alabama’s offense was much less stagnant Saturday than it was against Missouri and Auburn. Though the Tide had 13 turnovers, it kept its offense in flow combining for 14 assists as a team. Sears had an efficient and big-time scoring performance finishing with 30 points on 8 of 17 from the field. Alabama effectively used him off-ball which gave him more open looks and made it easier to attack driving lanes off the catch.

The Tide as a whole rarely settled for difficult shots and was able to get decent looks whether they came early or late in in the shot clock. One possession in the second half looked like it was ending in a contested layup by Sherrell. Instead, Sherrell rose up and flicked the ball to Jarin Stevenson who immediately found Youngblood on the wing for 3.

Later in the period, Sears opted to dish to Youngblood for the South Florida transfer's third 3 of the game and a dagger for Alabama. Youngblood was much more involved offensively, flying around the wing to get open for shots and taking advantage of a few mismates on drives. He finished the game with 14 points, the most he's scored since Alabama's win over Mississippi State when he led the way with 22.

Alabama will face much better defenses than Kentucky moving forward, but it put in an efficient showing on the offensive end, limited unforced errors and countered turnovers with strong ball movement and efficient scoring. Free throw shooting gave Alabama another offensive boost. Alabama shot 21 of 25 from the line, compared to just 72.7% for Kentucky. Sears went a perfect 11 of 11 from the free throw line.

Alabama will play the second of a two-game homestand against Mississippi State in its next matchup. The Tide and Bulldogs first met on Jan. 29, with Alabama winning 88-84 inside Humphery Coliseum. The rematch is set for 8 p.m. CT Tuesday in Coleman. The game will be televised on ESPN 2.