Tennessee Basketball: Three takeaways from Vols’ 68-59 win vs. Alabama

Tennessee basketball hosted the Alabama Crimson Tide at home last night in Thompson Bowling Arena. There were many takeaways from the game, but three stuck out to me. 

Tennessee basketball was on fire last night and thumped the No. 1 team in the country. The Vols bounced back in a much-needed way, and there’s truly no better way to do it than to embarrass Alabama for a second time this year.

Tennessee Basketball’s Defense Dominated

The Vols’ defense completely took over the game last night and reminded the College Basketball world why they are ranked No. 1 in the country on defense.

Head coach Rick Barnes had this to say after the game:

"“I’ve been doing this a long time, and I’ll tell you what, every guy that played in that game did something to help us win… Im gonna tell you something, that defense for 40 minutes, might have been the best that I’ve ever seen.”"

The Volunteers’ defense caused 19 turnovers last night and was wreaking havoc all game long. The Alabama offense was shell-shocked and unable to run any of their plays, offensive sets, or even get a clean shot off all night long.

Watching the Volunteers’ defense last night was a thing of beauty, and it’s one of the main reasons I believe they will go deep into march.

Tennessee Basketball’s Offense Came Back to Life

The Vols offense was rolling in last night’s upset win over the Crimson Tide. The Volunteers shot 37% from the field, and a solid 26% from behind the three-point arc.

The Volunteers also managed to get to the line 25 times last game, which shows how they were being the more aggressive team. While they only shot 64% from the charity stripe, if they can find a way to increase that percentage, the Vols will be almost unstoppable come tournament time.

Tennessee Basketball’s Key Players Stepped Up

The offense was being contributed by every player who touched the floor, but primarily came from the play of 5 main guys:

Jonas Aidoo

Aidoo stepped up when he needed to most. He played for 27 minutes last night and put up a 12-point 11 rebound double-double. He played outstanding basketball every second that he was on the court and helped the Vols secure this much-needed victory.

Olivier Nkamhoua

Olivier has been stepping up in a big way recently and has been dominating every single statistical category. He is a leader on the floor and is one of their best defensive players. Nkamhoua played for 24 minutes and had 9 points, 4 rebounds, and 1 assist.

Zakai Zeigler

Zeigler has been nothing but spectacular this season and proved last night why he is one of the best, if not the best, point guards in the SEC. Zakai shot 33% from three-point land, tallied 15 points, and had 8 assists. On top of this, he was harassing the Alabama offense all game long and didn’t let up any uncontested shots.

Santiago Vescovi

Vescovi was shooting the lights out of the ball last night and ended the game with 15 points. He was all over the place shutting down the Alabama offense and snagged 8 rebounds. He also was very consistent from behind the arc shooting 50% and 40% from the field.

Uros Plavsic

Uros was making the Alabama offense look silly all night long, and came to life on offense. He only played for 13 minutes, but still managed to record 10 points, 4 rebounds, and 2 assists. Uros was electric last night and hopefully continues to dominate as the Vols get closer to March.