Tennessee basketball: Three takeaways from Vols’ 73-68 SEC opening loss to Alabama
Victor Bailey Jr. and Zakai Zeigler both missed three-pointers, to take the lead and then tie respectively, in the final 35 seconds, and the No. 19 ranked Alabama Crimson Tide hit three of four free throws to beat Tennessee basketball in Tuscaloosa Wednesday night. Ranked No. 14 in the AP Poll and No. 15 in the Coaches Poll, UT was without John Fulkerson and Kennedy Chandler.
It was the SEC opener for both teams. Alabama was down 33-23 with under four minutes to go in the first half but closed it on a 10-0 run to go into halftime tied. Neither team led by more than two possessions in the second half, and Alabama, trailing 65-62 with just over two minutes to go, hit a three-pointer and a layup on back to back possessions.
A Keon Ellis three-pointer with 46 seconds left while they were trailing 68-67 put them up for good. With the win, Alabama improves to 10-3 and 1-0 in SEC play. They will next visit the Florida Gators next Wednesday. UT falls to 9-3 and 0-1 in the SEC and will next host the Ole Miss Rebels next Wednesday. Here are three things we learned from Tennessee basketball’s loss.
3. The Vols’ effort was impressive given absences.
They didn’t have their most experienced player, who anchors the post, and they didn’t have their best player, who runs the point. Fulkerson and Chandler both tested positive for COVID after Christmas and easily are the two most important players on the team. Still, on the road against a solid SEC team, they led for the majority of the game and had a chance to win in the end.
UT did all the little things right, going 17-of-20 from the free throw line and only turning the ball over 11 times. You have to appreciate the heart and the fight of Rick Barnes’ team, and true to his word, he wasn’t going to use COVID as an excuse for losing.
2. Lack of three-point shooting did UT in.
Despite being the two best players on the team, Fulkerson and Chandler aren’t deadly three-point shooters. Tennessee basketball relies on elite three-point shooting from a couple guys each game to help out Fulkerson and Chandler. They didn’t get it in this one. Santiago Vescovi was the only reliable shooter from the outside, going 3-of-8 en route to 13 points.
As a team, though, they went 7-of-29 from the outside. This was a game in which they needed to be red-hot, and that didn’t happen. Bailey and Zeigler both had good looks from three in the final minute but couldn’t put them in. That proved costly.
1. Backup post game is not where it needs to be.
Olivier Nkamhoua was aggressive with 15 points and nine rebounds, but it’s obvious the Vols are in trouble in the post next year without Fulkerson. You can’t expect players to replace his experience, but you have to expect them to be more serviceable than they were in this game. Brandon Huntley-Hatfield had a chance to dominate, but he just had eight points.
Uros Plavsic still hasn’t developed. While he had nine rebounds, he finished with six points, all from the foul line. When the game was tied at 65 with 90 seconds left, Plavsic was blocked by Noah Gurley for the potential go-ahead layup. After that point was when Alabama took back over. Tennessee basketball needs more production from its backup post players.