Tennessee had a ready-made excuse. Alabama deployed a three-year professional, a temporary transfer from the NBA G League.
The Vols didn’t need an excuse. They met the challenge head-on and turned out to be the tougher team.
What happened in Tuscaloosa was some degree of astounding. Tennessee’s defense knocked the Tide three-point attack off stride. Tennessee won the rebound battle. Tennessee took the hustle award in the closing minutes. Tennessee won the game, 79-73.
The Vols looked so different from a week ago when they staggered and stumbled through the home loss to Kentucky. Rick Barnes did it. He demanded more determined defense. He ordered more shooting opportunities for Nate Ament.
Nate got 20, hit 10, went 2-for-3 on threes, 7-for-9 on free throws and scored 29. He added seven rebounds and three assists and didn’t look much like a freshman. He was charged with only one turnover.
Ja’Kobi Gillespie scored 24 on 8-of-20 shooting. He hit six of eight foul shots. He lost the ball only twice.
“Great college basketball game. Both teams played hard, competed the entire time,” said Barnes.
The coach said his team really took advantage of extra preparation. There was no mid-week game.
“They really approached it with a great mindset and were able to carry over a lot of what we talked about. We knew that we were playing one of the best offensive teams in the country (92.1 points per game) and we wanted to be on edge the entire time.
“They’re a hard team to guard but I just love the fact that our guys stayed locked in – well, for the most part.”
Defense? Alabama missed eight of its final nine shots. It did not score in the closing three minutes and 11 seconds.
The winning edge was Volunteer strategy and effort on three-point defense. The Tide had averaged 34.8 percent on three-point shooting and had been making 12.5 per game. This time, it hit 23 percent and made six.
Barnes repeated what he had said: “I just got to give our guys credit for really staying locked into what we were trying to get done as a team from the scouting report standpoint.”
Tennessee finished much better than it started. Bishop Boswell was whistled for two fouls in the first four minutes. After surviving that shock, Barnes took a risk and sent Boswell back into the fray with the Vols behind, 22-12.
Bishop said thank you with a seven-point hot streak. The Tide lead was 39-36 at intermission.
Tennessee started the second half on an 11-2 run. Alabama regained the lead at 62-60. The Vols scored six in a row. Gillespie free throws put the Vols up 70-63. The Tide never recovered.
The Vols gave up 49, 50 and 49 points in the second half of the three SEC losses. Alabama scored 34 in the second half.
The Tide did have individual standouts. Good guard Labaron Philon scored 26 but was not as accurate as usual. Guard Latrell Wrightsell scored 14. The pro player, 7-foot Charles Bediako, slammed five of six and scored 13. He got only three rebounds.
Barnes was asked if the victory could be the beginning of better things to come.
“Hopefully it’s something we can build on, but it’s not going to be easy. It’s never going to be easy, and I hope they understand that.”
Marvin West welcomes comments or questions from readers. His address is marvinwest75@gmail.com
