The Tennessee Vols used an offensive outburst to defeat the Alabama Crimson Tide 93-86 Tuesday night for the program's first win in Tuscaloosa since 1998.

Chris Lofton led the Vols with 23 points, including five 3-pointers. JaJuan Smith finished with 22 points and four 3s.

After entering the second half tied at 33, UT jumped out to a 10-point lead with 15:40 left in the game.

Still, Alabama found itself within striking distance when Richard Hendrix scored to make the score 83-81 with less than two minutes remaining.

JaJuan Smith's 3-pointer on the ensuing possession ended the threat, as the Vols held on for the road victory.

Alonzo Gee scored 27 points and had nine rebounds for the Tide. Hendrix finished 20 points and 12 rebounds.

The Vols will return to action Saturday night when they travel to Starkville to take on the SEC West leading Mississippi State Bulldogs.

Player of the Game

While Chris Lofton and JaJuan Smith were the leading scorers for UT, neither made the biggest impact in Tuesday's victory.

Tyler Smith finished with 17 points and 11 rebounds. However, those were not the most important stats on the night for the sophomore.

Five of his 11 rebounds came on the offensive end of the floor, and he connected on all seven of his free throw attempts.

As a team the Vols dominated on the glass and at the charity stripe, and Smith led the charge in both categories.

He also had two dunks make SportsCenter's Top 10 Plays.

All of that combined makes Tyler Smith the Tennessee Journalist's Player of the Game.

Stat to worry about

The Vols turned the ball over a season high 23 times Tuesday night, and it allowed Alabama to stay in the game despite UT's 21 offensive rebounds.

In the last two games combined the Vols have 41 turnovers.

They've been fortunate those performances came against two teams that have combined to go 3-7 in Southeastern Conference play.

If the team does not improve its ball security, Mississippi State and Florida will give the Vols all kinds of trouble in the next two games.