Tennessee dominates, then falls late to Alabama
Tennessee dominated Alabama for much of Tuesday night’s contest in Tuscaloosa, but in the end, the Crimson Tide prevailed.
[title_box title=”Tennessee dominates, then falls late to Alabama”]
The Volunteers fell to the Crimson Tide on Tuesday night, 63-57. With the loss, Tennessee fell to 10-10 overall and 3-5 in SEC play.
The Vols were hoping to build momentum after a solid home win against a solid South Carolina squad but failed to protect their 15-point lead in Tuscaloosa. Tennessee led for over thirty minutes during the game, but struggled to find any baskets in its half court sets in the final 10 minutes of the contest.
It is well known that Tennessee doesn’t have a true point guard on its roster. That fact was incredibly apparent during the last 12 minutes of the second half. After obtaining a 15-point lead over the Crimson Tide, the Volunteers were outscored 30-9 to close the game.
When Alabama took away the Tennessee transition baskets mid-way through the second half, the Volunteers offense began to stagnate.
“When we got that big lead, we stopped guarding. One time they got three offensive rebounds in a row. We never left the floor,” said head coach Rick Barnes.
“We didn’t deserve to win that game.”
The Vols’ leading scorer Kevin Punter managed to score 15 points while going 3-of-9 from three-point land. Punter only found a single trip to the charity stripe where he hit both of only two free throws.
Detrick Mostella, who the Vols rely on for a spark off the bench, finished with a disappointing 3-of-9 from the field and 1-of-5 from beyond the arc.
Alabama’s Retin Obasohan finished with an impressive 22 points while going 10-of-16 from the field. He also had five assists. Shannon Hale contributed 20 points and hit 9-of-10 free throws.
Both teams shot under 30 percent from behind the three-point line, but the real difference in the game was each team’s overall shooting percentage from the field.
Tennessee ended up shooting a dismal 34 percent from the field, while the Crimson Tide finished 40 percent from the field as a team.
Tennessee will be back in action on Saturday when it travels to take on TCU in a late season out-of-conference matchup.
Featured image by Ben Ozburn
Edited by Cody McClure
