No. 1/1 Alabama Upended by No. 10/11 Tennessee, 68-59

No. 1/1 Alabama Upended by No. 10/11 Tennessee, 68-59 | https://rolltide.com/

By Press release submission

Feb 16, 2023

No. 1/1 Alabama Upended by No. 10/11 Tennessee, 68-59

The No. 1/1 Alabama men's basketball team dropped a 68-59 decision at No. 10/11 Tennessee Saturday night inside Thompson-Boling Arena. The loss gives the Crimson Tide its first defeat in Southeastern Conference play this season, falling to 22-4 overall and 12-1 in the league.

The Volunteers, which entered the game leading the nation in defensive efficiency, forced the Tide into 19 miscues which resulted in a 26-2 advantage in points off turnovers. As a result, Alabama, which entered the game averaging 83.5 points per game on the year, was held to its lowest point total of the season.

Brandon Miller recorded his sixth double-double of the season, leading the Tide with 15 points to go along with 10 rebounds. Jaden Bradley scored 14 points and had team highs in assists (4) and steals (2), while Nimari Burnett came off the bench to collect 11 points. Noah Clowney finished with seven points and a team-leading 11 boards in the defeat.

Tennessee (19-6, 9-4 SEC) Zakai Zeigler and Santia Vescovi's 15 points apiece, while Jonas Aidoo had 12 points, 11 rebounds and three blocked shots.

HEAD COACH NATE OATS POSTGAME COMMENTS

"Tennessee proved why they have the No. 1 defense in the country. They did a great job on us, and we turned the ball over way too much. They had nine turnovers, we had 19 turnovers; we scored two points off their turnovers and they scored 26 points off our 19 turnovers, to me that is the biggest area of the game and to me it was their physicality. They got into our guards, and we did not handle it well and we obviously didn't do a good job of preparing our guys to go against the physicality that was going to come with this game. The underneath out-of-bounds where we turned it over, I have to do a better job of getting us ready to play a game like this. We only get them once and if we get them again it will be in the SEC Tournament so hopefully we are better prepared to play against a defense like this because we have seen it. That is the reason why these guys are good and I know their record isn't what everyone thought it was going to be in conference but maybe they have been the unluckiest team I have seen with the last two losses. I don't think I have ever seen a team lose back-to-back games like that, but this is a really good team and they showed it tonight."

TEAM STATS

With the defeat, the Tide falls to 1-2 all-time as the No. 1-ranked team in the nation (1-1 in 2002-03)
Alabama outrebounded Tennessee 43-39, but the Vols owned a 13-8 edge on the offensive glass which helped result in a 14-4 edge in points in the paint
Of the Tide's 19 turnovers, 12 came in the opening 20 minutes
In addition to being held to a season low point total, UA finished with additional low marks in field goals made (17) and attempted (48), points off turnovers (2) and second chance points (4, tied)
Alabama is now 14-13 when playing AP Top-25 teams during Nate Oats' tenure
The loss snaps UA's three-game winning streak in the series vs. UT and was the Vols' first win over the Tide on its home floor since Jan. 19, 2019 (UT won, 71-68)

FIRST HALF

Alabama shot 49 percent from the field while holding UT to 31 percent
Tennessee used a mini 7-0 spurt to take its largest lead of the half at 26-18 with 4:11 left, however, Alabama did not allow UT to score a field goal the rest of the half
The Tide finished the opening stanza on an 11-3 run to draw even at 29-all at the half
Brandon Miller led UA with nine points along with three rebounds
The Tide outrebounded Tennessee 25-19
Tennessee attempted 36 shots while the Tide attempted just 21 shots

SECOND HALF

Tennessee began the half by scoring seven of the first nine points to take a 36-31 edge and used its defense to keep the lead the rest of the way
The Vols shot 46 percent in the final stanza and limited the Tide to just 30 percent
Of Alabama's eight made field goals in the half, six came from beyond the arc (6-of-14)
Burnett scored nine points to lead the Tide, hitting all three of his three-pointers
Both Burnett and Brandon Miller recorded four fouls to result in both player fouling out

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