The Vols are looking for revenge and to tie some school history on Saturday afternoon.
No. 3 Tennessee (15-1, 4-0 SEC) hosts Alabama (11-5, 2-2 SEC) in Thompson-Boling Arena on Saturday, and the Vols are hoping to avenge a blowout loss to the Crimson Tide from last season. Last year when the two teams met in Tuscaloosa, the Vols were ranked No. 15 and were riding a six-game winning streak. Alabama had just lost to Mississippi State and were 2-3 in their last five games.
But the Tide brought one of their best efforts of the season against Tennessee.
Alabama dominated the Vols from start to finish, and they handed Tennessee a 78-50 loss. That game was easily the Vols’ worst loss of the season, and it marked Alabama’ fifth win against a ranked team in six tries up to that point.
This season, Tennessee is riding a hot streak once again while Alabama, once again, has been playing up-and-down.
The Vols are on an 11-game winning streak heading into Saturday’s game, and they’ve been dominant in SEC play so far this year. Tennessee has beaten all four of their conference foes by at least 11 points. Alabama, meanwhile, is coming off an 80-70 victory over Missouri on the road, but they lost their previous two games before that.
Alabama leads the all-time series 79-68, and they’ve been a thorn in Tennessee’s side in recent years. The Tide have won three of the last four meetings between the two schools, and they’ve beaten the Vols seven times in their last 10 match-ups.
No team has picked up more rebounds than Alabama in conference play. The Tide are averaging 39.5 rebounds per game in their four SEC games, and they’re averaging 76.5 points per contest against conference foes. Tennessee, meanwhile, ranks first in field goal percentage (53.0 percent), free throw percentage (86.0 percent), assists (71), and points per game (91.8) in SEC play.
A win for the Vols on Saturday would tie their best start in program history. Both the 2007-08 and 2000-01 teams started the season 16-1, marking the best beginnings to a season in school history. Tennessee currently sits at 15-1 on the year.
Here’s everything you need to know about today’s match-up. And if you can’t make it to the game, here’s how you can watch and listen to the Tennessee vs. Alabama game.
Tip-Off: 2:00 Eastern, January 19th, Thompson-Boling Arena (Knoxville, TN)
TV: ESPN2
Streaming Online: WatchESPN.com or ESPN app
Radio: Vol Network (99.1 FM or 990 AM in Knoxville/surrounding areas)
Line: Tennessee (-13.5)
