NASHVILLE, Tenn. -- Coach John Calipari said Kentucky's main mission at the SEC Tournament this weekend would be to improve or solidify its seeding for NCAA play. The Wildcats got off to a good start with an 85-59 win over Alabama on Friday.

Alex Poythress, who missed much of last season with a torn ACL in his left knee and five games late this year with an injury to his right knee, was the story of the night. The senior forward set a career high with four 3-pointers and made his first four shots on the way to 20 points. He also led Kentucky with seven rebounds.

"Every game I step on the court, I try to have a big game," Poythress said. "Sometimes it happens. Sometimes it don't, you know. But everybody was just great offensively. From the jump, everybody on the team was just in a rhythm. We were playing great defense, and it led to offense. Everybody was confident out there, making shots, and just getting in a rhythm and doing what you can do offensively."

It was all part of a banner night shooting for Kentucky. The Wildcats set a season-high mark with 13 3-pointers. They made 13 of 23, good for 56.5 percent. Poythress made four of five but five different players had a 3-pointer, including freshman guard Jamal Murray with five. The Wildcats shot 52.7 percent overall.

"If we're shooting the ball well, we'll be a difficult team for anybody to play," UK coach John Calipari said.

After a sluggish start, No. 16 Kentucky, the No. 2 seed for SEC play, went on an 8-0 run for a 21-15 lead over 10th-seeded Alabama thanks to five points from seldom-used junior point guard Dominique Hawkins.

A free throw by freshman forward Skal Labissiere and a jumper from senior forward Alex Poythress capped the scoring that forced an Alabama timeout with 8:09 left in the first half.

The run grew to 11-0 with an old-fashioned three-point play by sophomore guard Tyler Ulis as Alabama went 5:36 without scoring before a made free throw snapped the drought.

Kentucky (24-8) went on to push the lead to as many as 13 points in the first half, leading 32-19 with 3:08 left in the half. UK led 37-27 at halftime.

In the second half, Alabama (18-14) cut the lead to seven points with 17:23 to play, but that's when Ulis, SEC Player of the Year, took over. The 5-foot-9 sophomore guard scored eight of Kentucky's next 13 points in a 13-2 run to make it 55-37 with 13:43 left. The 18-point advantage was the Wildcats' largest of the night at that point.

Kentucky's largest lead was 26 points, 83-57, with 2:23 left.

"First game is always the hardest game in the tournament because you really don't know what your team's going to give you because we've been off a little while," Calipari said. "You also have a team that won their first game, which means they're playing on an emotional high. You don't know what that mix means. Across the country, you've seen those games go the wrong way, and those lower seeds have won a bunch of tournament games because of that alone. But this team in the second half played, we shot the ball well."

Murray led Kentucky with 23 points. Poythress added 20 and Ulis 17.

Alabama got 20 points from senior guard Arthur Edwards and 18 from senior guard Retin Obasohan. Alabama shot 41.7 percent.

Kentucky advances to the SEC Tournament semifinals on Saturday and will face Georgia. The other semifinal pits No. 1 seed Texas A&M against No. 4 seed LSU.

The championship game is 1 p.m. Sunday with the winner receiving the SEC's automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament.

NOTES: Kentucky is looking for its 29th SEC Tournament title this weekend in Nashville. Its 28 championships are more than all the other SEC schools combined. ... Kentucky swept Alabama during the regular season, 77-61 on Jan. 9 in Tuscaloosa and 78-53 on Feb. 23 in Lexington. ... Prior to the tournament, Kentucky's Tyler Ulis was named SEC player of the year and SEC defensive player of the year. He is only the second player in league history to sweep both awards. The other was Kentucky's Anthony Davis in 2012. ... UK's scoring margin of plus-11.1 is tops in the SEC.