The last time these two teams met, it resulted in the worst loss the Vols had all season.
Last year, Tennessee and Alabama faced-off in Tuscaloosa with the Vols ranked No. 15 and riding a six-game winning streak. The Tide had been playing up-and-down all season to that point, but they saved one of their best games for their match-up with the Vols.
Alabama scorched Tennessee 78-50, handing the Vols easily their worst loss of the 2017-18 season. Now, Tennessee will look to avenge that loss on Saturday in Knoxville.
No. 3 Tennessee (15-1, 4-0 SEC) is riding high on an 11-game winning streak and have defeated all four of their SEC opponents by at least 11 points. Alabama (11-5, 2-2 SEC) just beat Missouri on the road by a score of 80-70, but they had lost their two previous conference games.
Former NBA head coach Avery Johnson is in his fourth year with the Tide, and he’s hoping to make it back to the NCAA Tournament this year after taking Alabama there last season for the first time since 2012.
Alabama is led by former high four-star prospect Kira Lewis. The freshman — who Tennessee was involved with during his recruitment — leads the team in points per game (14.4), assists per game (2.8) and free throw shooting (85.2 percent).
Tennessee is looking to tie their best start in program history with a win over the Tide. A victory on Saturday would give the Vols a 16-1 record, matching only the 2007-08 and 2000-01 teams for the best start to a season since Tennessee joined the SEC in 1931.
Here’s everything you need to know when the Vols host the Tide on Saturday afternoon.
Crashing the Boards
Since entering SEC play, Alabama has been one of the best rebounding teams in the conference.
No team has totaled more rebounds than the Tide in conference play. Alabama has racked up 158 total rebounds in their four SEC games, giving them an average of 39.5 rebounds per game against SEC competition. Senior forward Donta Hall leads the way in conference play, averaging 10.8 rebounds per contest against conference opponents. On the season, he’s averaging 8.8 rebounds and 10.9 points per game.
Alabama doesn’t have a lot of overpowering height, but they do have good length and athletic ability. Hall measures in at 6-foot-9, and Tevin Mack is 6-foot-6. Starting forward/guard Herb Jones comes in at 6-foot-7.
The Vols are averaging 37.3 rebounds per game in SEC play, so they aren’t too far behind Alabama’s pace. Expect to see a lot of bodies flying around trying to pull down missed shots in this one.
Beware of the Three
Alabama isn’t the most proficient shooting team you’ll see, but they like to shoot three-pointers. And they can make a lot of them if you aren’t careful.
As a team, Alabama is hitting 34.5 percent of their threes, and three different Crimson Tide players (Lewis, Mack, John Petty) have all made at least 23 threes. Junior guard Dazon Ingram doesn’t attempt a lot of threes, only jacking up 17 shots from behind the arc this season, but he’s made 47.1 percent of his three-pointers.
The Tide have shot even better from three in the SEC this season. So far, Alabama has made 35.9 percent of their shots from deep in SEC play. Tevin Mack has gone 7-of-17 from three in conference play, and Petty has made nine of his 23 three-pointers against SEC competition.
On the season, the Vols are holding opponents to just 30 percent shooting on three-pointers. That’s in the top-35 in the entire country.
Drawing Fouls
College refs can sometimes get a little whistle-happy in games. And that might be put to the test on Saturday.
Both Tennessee and Alabama draw an average of 20.7 fouls per game from their opponents, and both teams get to the foul line a ton. Alabama is averaging 24.9 free throw attempts per game, while the Vols are averaging 23.9 shots from the charity stripe. The biggest difference, though, is that Tennessee is much better at making their free throws.
Alabama has only connected on 69.3 percent of their free throw shots this season. That number is better in conference play, as they’ve made 74.7 percent of their free throws in four SEC games. But Tennessee has been much better from the line this season, hitting 75.9 percent overall and 86 percent in SEC play, which is tops in the conference.
Bad History
A lot of the stats may favor Tennessee in this game, but that’s been the case before and it hasn’t mattered.
The Vols were the favorites on the road last year when they played Alabama, and they got thoroughly beat down, 78-50. In fact, Tennessee has struggled with the Tide over the last several years in basketball.
Tennessee has lost three of their last four games to Alabama, and the Tide have beaten the Vols seven of the last 10 times the two teams have played. Overall, Alabama leads the all-time series 79-68, and Tennessee is just 3-5 against Alabama in their last eight games they’ve played in Knoxville.
Even when the Vols beat Alabama, it’s usually only barely
Three of Tennessee’s last four victories against the Tide have come by seven points or less, with the only exception coming in 2014 when the Vols handed Alabama a 76-59 loss.
Even though Alabama hasn’t had any really truly great teams over the last few years, they’ve managed to be a thorn in Tennessee’s side. The Vols will hope to shake that on Saturday.
