Alabama Basketball: Win in Knoxville biggest of Nate Oats’ Tide career

Alabama Basketball: Crimson Tide got a major road win over Tennessee in Knoxville Saturday night.

College basketball experts did not give Alabama basketball much of a chance against the Tennessee Vols Saturday night. The undefeated Vols were ranked No. 7 after a blowout win over Missouri Wednesday night. The Missouri Tigers were ranked No. 8, were playing at home and were also undefeated. Tennessee blew out the Tigers 73-53.

As was discussed in a recent post, the Vols are a strong team with Elite Eight potential. So far in the 2020-21 season, Nate Oats’ Alabama basketball team has been unpredictable. At times it looks like it could beat anyone. Other times it appears the Tide could lose to anybody. Saturday night was one of the ‘beat anybody’ games.

Tennessee led for most of the first half but never by more than four points. Two late free throws by Herbert Jones gave the Crimson Tide a two-point lead at the break. The Vols never led in the second half, with the Tide stretching its lead to 14 points at the 14:19 mark.

Foul trouble kept Vols’ star Yves Pons on the Tennessee bench for 19 minutes. The powerful forward finished with only six points. The Vols were solid with only nine turnovers to the Tide’s 12. Thet also outrebounded the Tide 46-43. Both teams played outstanding defense, The difference was shooting for the Crimson Tide. Tennessee shot only 32 percent for the game, including just 19 percent outside the arc. The three-ball was kind to the Tide, who shot an even 50 percent on 20 three-point attempts. Neither team shot well from the foul line, but nine more attempts by the Vols kept them in the game

Check out these Nate Oats’ comments as posted by Roger Hoover.

• “We didn’t shoot the ball well at all in the first half, still up 2 at the half, speaks to defense. Defense last 8 minutes was great, offense wasn’t great, we won the game on the defensive end.”
•  “Attitudes are all great right now. I really like where we’re at. Petty’s all about the right stuff. JQ is really skilled, maybe the most skilled kid on the team, we need him to guard. He flipped the ast/to thing all-around.”
• “John Petty is all about winning. Guys want to play with winners. If we keep doing what we’re doing he’s going to leave here a winner.”

Alabama Basketball Player Stats

• John Petty – 17 points, six rebounds and two assists. Petty missed one shot.
• Herbert Jines – 11 points, eight rebounds, one assist, two blocks and one steal
• Jahvon Quinerly – 12 points, two rebounds and five assists
• Josh Primo – 11 points, five rebounds and one assist
• Jordan Bruner – 8 points, six rebounds and three blocks

Alabama basketball has a long road ahead to be a consistent contender. The task was made easier by the big win in Knoxville.