Alabama Basketball: Knoxville too much for Crimson Tide

For Alabama Basketball in Knoxville on Wednesday night – there was ‘too’ much. As in ‘too tough’ of a Tennessee defense and ‘too many’ Crimson Tide errors.

The Volunteers held the Crimson Tide to its lowest point total of the season in the 68-59, Tennessee win. Alabama turned the ball over 19 times. Many were under pressure, but too many were mental errors. It s extremely difficult to beat a strong defensive team when that team has a 15-shot, field goal attempts advantage, plus a 5-shot, free throw attempt advantage.

Alabama outrebounded the Vols 43-39, but Tennessee had a five-board advantage in offensive rebounds. Compared to the Crimson Tide’s 19 turnovers, Tennessee had only eight. The Vols also dominated second-chance points, with 28, compared to 12 for the Crimson Tide.

Credit to Rick Barnes and his team. The Tennessee defense was stifling.

After the game, talking about the Tennessee defense, Nate Oats said,

"They did a good job on us. We turned the ball over way too much. … It was their physicality. They got into our guards, we didn’t handle it well."

Nate Oats also said the game was determined by 26 points from Alabama’s turnovers, compared to just eight Crimson Tide points from Tennessee’s turnovers. Charles Bediako and Mark Sears each had three turnovers for the Crimson Tide. Jahvon Quinerly had six.

Only three Alabama basketball players scored in double-figures. Brandon Miller led the Tide with 15 points. Jaden Bradley had 14 points, with 10 points coming from the foul line. Nimari Burnett scored 11 points. The leading rebounders for Alabama were Noah Clowney with 11 boards and Brandon Miller with 10.

Alabama Basketball Season Goals

Going forward it is important to remember little was lost in Knoxville; in the context of goals for the 2022-23 season. A game was lost to a rival, an undefeated SEC regular season was lost and an unimportant No. 1 ranking was lost.

More importantly, the Crimson Tide still leads the SEC. It will dip only slightly in the NCAA NET Ranking, from No. 2. When updated NCAA Tournament projections are released, the Crimson Tide will not be the overall No. 1 seed. But Alabama will still be a projected 1-seed.

Next for Alabama is simple. Go back to work, and stay focused on continued improvement. Learn from mistakes made in the Tennessee game, but don’t dwell on them. The Georgia Bulldogs come to Coleman Coliseum Saturday night. The Crimson Tide will be favored, as it will be in each remaining SEC, regular season game. And the Crimson Tide, as it was Wednesday night, will still have a target on its back.