Labaron Philon took Alabama home, but Nate Oats had a different MVP in mind

Latrell Wrightsell kept Alabama in the game, and Labaron Philon took the Crimson Tide home down the stretch to escape Knoxville with a 71-69 win over Tennessee, but Nate Oats had a different MVP in mind.

"I think the MVP of the game is Aiden Sherrell," Oats said. "We don't win the game without him inside."

Sherrell's traditional stats might not look MVP worthy. He shot just 1-of-6 from the floor and finished with six points and eight rebounds. But he also added four blocked shots and gutted out a team-high 33 minutes. Alabama had no chance without him on the floor, and Sherrell came up with a couple of big plays down the stretch. He also won the hard hat by a mile, according to Oats:

Nate Oats says Aiden Sherrell was Alabama's MVP vs. Tennessee

It was far from a pretty game, but it takes some ugly to get a road win at Tennessee. Snapping a five-game losing streak to the Vols is pretty enough, regardless of what it took to get there.

Alabama trailed by 12 at halftime, but scrapped and clawed its way back in the game. Wrightsell led Alabama in scoring with 25 points and hit 6-of-9 from three. He kept the Crimson Tide in the game.

It was Philon who took over down the stretch, coming off the bench to score 23 points, including the game-winning basket with 24 seconds left.

Trailing 69-67, it was a couple of clutch offensive rebounds by Sherrell that kept Alabama alive. Philon missed a three to take the lead, but Sherrell fought to grab the board. He kicked it out to Wrightsell, who also missed. Sherrell battled for the loose ball, and it was ultimately lost out of bounds off Tennessee.

That led to Aden Holloway's game-tying basket, and then set up a defensive stop followed by Philon's winner, and then another stop to seal it.

Sherrell gave Alabama everything he had on Saturday night in Knoxville. It was just enough to help the Crimson Tide end a miserable streak and earn their eighth straight win.