Alabama men’s basketball has to try and get back on track while facing a top-10 team this weekend.

After one of the most abysmal offensive performances in recent memory in the home loss to No. 21 Ole Miss, the No. 4 Crimson Tide will now travel to face No. 8 Kentucky on Saturday (11 a.m. CT, ESPN) in Lexington, Kentucky.

“We’re going to have to bring intensity to the game I don’t think we had Tuesday,” Alabama coach Nate Oats said Friday.

Intensity wasn’t there. Neither was offensive rebounding. The area where the Crimson Tide had thrived most of the season fell flat against Ole Miss. Alabama had four total after 20 offensive boards against Oklahoma and 18 against Texas A&M. Both conference wins.

“Yeah it was an effort thing,” Oats said. “When we go with the effort we need to, we get them. When we don’t go, we don’t get them. Our crash rates, they were some of the lowest of the season. We just didn’t go.”

Bring that same effort to Rupp Arena, and Alabama will all but certainly add a second consecutive loss.

“I think (the Ole Miss loss) did give us a wake up call,” Oats said. “We maybe overlooked Ole Miss a little bit, but I don’t know how that’s possible. They’re 3-0 and they beat good teams. Maybe just the history of some of these guys who have been here. We haven’t lost to Ole Miss since I’ve been here. I don’t know if they thought that’s why. I just told them, if you overlook anybody in this league, you’re going to take an L.”

Alabama shouldn’t be overlooking the Wildcats, a top-10 team with the No. 2 offense in adjusted offensive efficiency, per KenPom. The Crimson Tide will not only need to play with more effort but also play one of its best games to beat the Wildcats on the road.

“Coach (Mark) Pope has done a very good job kind of modernizing their offense,” Oats said. “They’ve got three-point shooters, spacing the floor, bigs who can handle and pass. Know how to make plays.”

Oats said he expects Rupp Arena to be ready for the matchup. And the good news for Alabama: Oats expects the same from his players.

Part of that is because the Crimson Tide had two good days of practice Thursday and Friday. The other part: The older players who are leaders have owned what happened in the Ole Miss game in conversations with Oats. They have acknowledged they didn’t have the team ready to go.

“They need to speak up,” Oats said. “They need to make sure their presence is felt. They need to make sure they themselves are ready to go and they need to make sure the team is ready to go as leaders on this team. I think they know it. I think they owned it. I think we’ll see a different team on Saturday.”

Nick Kelly is an Alabama beat writer for AL.com and the Alabama Media Group. Follow him on X and Instagram.