The Alabama Crimson Tide pulled off a thrilling comeback victory on the road Saturday night against the pesky Tennessee Vols. At the end of the game, the Tide won 71-69 and only led once. The win was Alabama’s eighth straight and improved their record to 22-7 overall and 12-4 in the SEC. Tennessee dropped to 20-9 overall and 10-6 in conference play. The win ended Bama’s five-game losing streak against UT.
Labron Philon played in the game after missing the team’s final game. Aden Holloway, Amari Allen, Latrell Wrightsell, London Jemison and Aiden Scherer are the starters for this game. Philon may not have started yet, but he certainly showed his quality in the game. Nearly five minutes into the game, Ferron’s 3-pointer finally put the Tide within 5-3.
The Vols led 26-16 with 5:16 left in the half as they had just destroyed the Tide on the offensive glass. Things looked up, and UT held a comfortable 40-28 lead at halftime.
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Alabama shot 10 of 27 in the first half, or 37% from the field, including 5 of 13, or 38% from the field, and 3-4 from the free throw line. The Tide had 15 rebounds, 4 assists, 1 block, 2 steals, and made 8 turnovers. Wrightsell scored 11 points and Philon scored 8 points. Really just half as miserable as Bama.
Tennessee shot 17-43 at halftime, shooting 40% from the field, 13-4 from three-point range, and 2-4 from the free throw line. The Vols had 28 rebounds, 16 offense, 7 assists, 4 blocks, 7 steals, and only 3 turnovers. Jacoby Gillespie scored 15 points and 4 assists.
Philon started the second half for the Tide. The game started a little fast, with Holloway hitting a couple of 3-pointers early after going scoreless in the first half. Bama closed the gap to 6 points on several 0f possessions, but UT clawed its way back to a double-digit lead. The Vols led 48-40 with 15:13 left in the game.
With 5 minutes and 09 seconds left in the game, Philon made two free throws to chase the score to 63-58. With 2 minutes and 49 seconds left in the game, the Tide chased the score to 67-65. After finally tying the score, Philon hit a short floater in the paint to give Alabama its first lead, 71-69. Bama’s defense stepped up, and despite several nice chances to tie the game, the game ended with the ball rolling on the floor and the Tide pulled off an improbable victory.
Alabama shot 15 of 29 from the field in the second half (52%), 5 of 14 from 3-point range (36%), and 9 of 8 from the charity stripe. Overall, the wave is 25-56, accounting for 45%. 10-27 is 37% from depth and 11-13 is a freebie. Bama had 30 rebounds, 8 assists, 4 blocks, 3 steals and 10 turnovers. Wrightsell scored 25 points and shot 6-9 from three-point range. Philon took over late and scored 23 points on 9-of-14 shooting. Holloway scored 12 points, 4 rebounds and 2 assists. Scherer only scored 6 points, but grabbed 8 rebounds and blocked 4 shots. Allen had the worst game of his career, finishing with two points and two rebounds. The same goes for Jemison, who didn’t score or grab a rebound. Houston Mallette scored three points and was the only Alabama player to score in the game, but also contributed five rebounds.
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In the second half, Alabama’s defense held Tennessee to a 13-35 deficit while shooting 37% from the field, including 0-5 from 3-point range. He made 30 of 395 shots from the field, 3 of 78 from the field, 4 of 18 three-pointers, 22%, and 5 of 8 free throws. The Vols had 47 rebounds, 25 offensive possessions, 13 assists, 4 blocks, 9 steals and only 6 turnovers. Gillespie had 26 points, 5 rebounds and 7 assists. JP Estrella had 12 points and 6 rebounds. Three Tennessee players had at least eight rebounds in the game.
The Tide are as hot as any team in the country right now. The win ensures a top-four seed and a double bye in the SEC Tournament, and is likely to lock in at least a fourth seed for now. The team has two regular season games remaining, one against Georgia and one at home against Auburn. If they win these two games with a 14-4 SEC record, that would be incredible considering they were 4-4 in the league just a few weeks ago. Stay hot man!
Curly tide
