The Tennessee basketball team has dominated its rival, Alabama, on the hardwood, recently winning five straight games against the Crimson Tide. Rick Barnes always seems to coach circles around Nate Oats, as Tennessee consistently holds Alabama to fewer points than the high-octane offense is typically used to. The Vols won 79-73 in Alabama a month ago, but guard Aden Holloway and forward Amari Allen were out for the game, two key contributors.
The last time Tennessee faced Alabama, only two players reached double-digit points: Nate Ament and Ja’Kobi Gillespie. The Vols leaned heavily on their stars, and they delivered with Nate Ament putting up what was, at the time, a career-high in points. Tennessee will need more of this and less of what happened on Tuesday night against Missouri.
Gillespie couldn't take care of the basketball with Tennessee having a horrific 15 turnovers in the loss. Ament struggled, and Rick Barnes called him out to the media, saying he needs to fight harder through contact. Barnes said, "He’s going to have to fight through contact and hope that he’ll get some calls with freedom of movement. But if he doesn’t fight it, he’s not going to get those calls."
Turnovers and missed opportunities haunt Tennessee
There’s no question that this Tennessee team has talent and the defensive identity to make a run in the tournament. When they play their best basketball, they look like a legitimate top-tier team in the country. However, when the missed layups and turnovers spill on this team, it is susceptible to losing very easily. Alabama will come into Saturday night hungry, looking to avenge the loss in Tuscaloosa. The Tide will be a harder team to guard with Holloway in, and Tennessee needs to clean the boards like they typically do. If they give a great scoring team like Alabama extra chances that will capitalize. At the end of the day, though, if Tennessee stars can step up as we've seen them do, I see no reason why the Vols cannot win.
This game will be close, but I think Tennessee just barely squeaks by with a close 82-80 win at home.