Before Alabama basketball traveled to Kentucky in January, Crimson Tide head coach Nate Oats had a message for his group.

“By any means necessary,” Oats recalled telling the team. “And if you don’t plan on getting the win, just pack all your stuff, because you don’t plan on coming back with us.”

Alabama was reeling at that point in the season, coming off its first SEC loss, to Ole Miss in Tuscaloosa. With the Wildcats making a return trip to Coleman Coliseum on Friday, the Crimson Tide is once again struggling.

UA is on its first multi-game losing streak of the season, coming off of a home defeat against Auburn, and Wednesday’s road loss to Missouri. Its hopes of an SEC regular season title are dwindling, but the Tide is still battling for SEC and NCAA Tournament seeding.

Oats said Friday that his team is motivated entering the rematch with Kentucky. Even if he can’t threaten to leave them in Lexington this time.

“We gotta come out like we’ve got our hair on fire,” Oats said. “Like the season’s riding on the line. Because there’s a lot still riding on this game. It’s NCAA Tournament seeding. It’s SEC tournament seeding. It’s giving yourself a chance to still be in it if things fall certain ways at the end of the year.”

Alabama beat Kentucky in the first matchup of the season, 102-97. Mark Pope’s Wildcats enter Coleman Coliseum as the No. 17 team in the country, off an 82-61 win over Vanderbilt.

Similarly to Oats’ Alabama, UK likes to run. With UA struggling to start games, Oats reduced the team’s practice load after the Missouri game, hoping to get players’ legs back underneath them.

With just two weeks left in the regular season, the coach wanted his team to understand the remaining stakes.

“With all the time and effort these guys have pug into being elite basketball players, why don’t you put everything oy have into finishing the year out the way that you want to finish it out?” Oats said. “And then, let’s see where it falls. Let’s see what happens. Sometimes national champions aren’t regular season champions. Two years ago UConn wasn’t. Sometimes they’re not tournament champions.

“We’re still in this thing to win the SEC Tournament, we’re in to win the NCAA Tournament. We’re in to win every game moving forward, and there needs to be a sense of urgency about this game that we haven’t seen the last two games.”

Alabama and Kentucky are scheduled to tip off Saturday at 5 p.m. CT in Tuscaloosa. The game will be aired on ESPN.