It feels like Groundhog Day every time Alabama plays Tennessee recently. It doesn't matter who plays or doesn't play, Rick Barnes and the Volunteers have had Nate Oats and the Crimson Tide's number.
Saturday night's 79-73 win over Alabama in Coleman Coliseum was the fifth consecutive win in the series for Tennessee, and it spoiled the re-debut of Charles Bediako, who played his first game for the Crimson Tide in three years.
Alabama sorely missed Aden Holloway and Amari Allen, both of whom missed the game with undisclosed issues. But Alabama had its opportunities to win, and instead dropped to 3-3 in SEC play with a second home loss that will make any hopes of a league title increasingly unlikely.
The 4 most imporant observations from Alabama's latest loss to Tennessee
1. Charles Bediako was a difference-maker
Alabama may have come up short, but it's clear that the addition of Charles Bediao will make a difference for the Crimson Tide if he is granted his preliminary injunction against the NCAA on Tuesday and is allowed to continue playing the remainder of the season.
Despite only practicing with the team once, Bediako played 25 minutes for the short-handed Tide, and he put up 13 points, three rebounds, two blocks, and two steals. Oats got him involved immediately with a perfectly drawn-up baseline out-of-bounds play for a dunk right after he checked into the game.
Bediako's addition allowed Alabama to survive Aiden Sherrell being in foul trouble for most of the night, though it wasn't enough to change the outcome in Alabama's favor. But if he can play that well without much practice time, imagine what he could be in a couple of weeks.
2. Alabama's injury issues were impossible to overcome
More so than the scoring Alabama was missing without Holloway and Allen - who rank 2nd and 3rd on the team in assists behind Labaron Philon - it was the playmaking that was difficult to replace. Those two also rank 2nd and 3rd in assists - also behind Philon - for Alabama, and the Crimson Tide's offense missed that a lot more than the scoring.
Alabama finished the game with only nine assists. Seven of those assists were by Philon. Latrell Wrightsell was the only other player for Alabama with an assist, with a whopping one. The other assist was a team assist on the out-of-bounds play to Bediako.
With a week between games, it was disappointing that neither Holloway nor Allen could go tonight. And it's a costly defeat for the Crimson Tide.
3. Labaron Philon had too much on his plate
Philon's usage was crazy high without Holloway and Allen, and he couldn't do quite enough to carry Alabama past a really good Tennessee defense. Philon's counting stats look good; he scored 26 points and dished out seven assists. But he was just 7-of-20 from the floor and 2-of-9 from three-point range.
Oats had to ask a lot out of his star sophomore guard. Philon played 38 minutes and had the full burden of the offensive playmaking on his shoulders, with nobody available to take any of it off of him.
He tried his best, but he couldn't do it by himself.
4. Alabama plays the same game against Tennessee every time
If that game felt familiar for Alabama fans, well, it's because it was. That's effectively what each of the last five matchups between the Tide and Volunteers on the hardwood have looked like.
Alabama lets Tennessee dictate the tempo and control the pace of the game. Every time. The Vols drag the Crimson Tide into a rockfight, and nobody slings rocks quite like a Rick Barnes-coached team.
Alabama was 6-of-26 (23%) from three. The last meeting in Coleman was two years ago, and Alabama shot 9-of-37 (24%) from three.
Rinse and repeat. It's the same song and dance every time. And it's unbelievably frustrating for Alabama fans.