No. 6 Tennessee will host Alabama in a snow-covered Food City Center this Saturday afternoon in Knoxville.
The Vols are looking for their third straight conference win while the Crimson Tide are looking to stay undefeated in the SEC with a victory on the road.
Ahead of the game, though, it’s as good of a time as any to look back at the last time Alabama basketball was in Knoxville. Tennessee’s stout defense helped shut down star Brandon Miller as the 10th-ranked Vols toppled the top-ranked Tide on Rocky Top. Tennessee defeated Alabama by a score of 68-59 on a chilly February night in Knoxville.
Tennessee and Alabama exchanged threes to start the game which was followed by a back-and-forth affair for the first 10 minutes of the contest. Point guard Zakai Zeigler was big for the Vols early on as he was knocking down threes and finding turnovers against the impressive Crimson Tide offense. Tennessee was finding opportunities out of those turnovers, too. By the 10-minute mark in the first half, the Vols had 10 points off of turnovers compared to Alabama’s zero.
Tennessee, dressed in their cream Vols script uniforms, had the “Checker TBA” crowd energetic throughout the game. There was perhaps no more electric moment in the first half than Olivier Nkamhoua’s alley-oop dunk, though. With just about eight minutes left in the half, Santiago Vescovi drove down the left lane and threw a high pass to Nkamhoua moving down the right lane. Nkamhoua corraled the pass with his right hand and threw down the massive dunk to give Tennessee the four-point lead.
More from RTI: No. 6 Tennessee vs. Alabama: How To Watch, Betting Odds, Complete Preview
The Vols and the Tide were knotted at 29 coming out of halftime until another Nkamhoua alley-oop, this time from Zeigler, gave the Vols the advantage on the first possession of the second half. Nkamhoua, now averaging 17 PPG at Michigan, would finish the game with nine points on 3-of-12 shooting from the floor.
Tennessee and Alabama continued to trade blows throughout the next eight minutes until a cold streak from the Tide opened the door for the Vols. Vescovi’s two threes from the same corner on the court played a big part in Tennessee’s run as the Vols held a seven-point lead with 11 minutes remaining. Vescovi had 12 points in the second half to lead Tennessee with a total of 15.
Alabama regained their footing and brought it to a four-point game with just three minutes to go, 58-54. That’s when the switch flipped, though.
Zeigler cooked Brandon Miller on a drive to the basket to give Tennessee the eight-point lead with one minute remaining, which was then followed by a series of free throws from Zeigler and Vescovi to put the game away. Tennessee won the game in Knoxville and took down No. 1 Alabama by a score of 68-59.
While Tennessee’s students didn’t rush the court, they certainly let the Alabama team have it. This was coming off of the heels of Tennessee’s win over Alabama in football from the previous October, don’t forget.
“Just like football”
Tennessee students celebrate after defeating No. 1 Alabama in Knoxville (again). pic.twitter.com/DZUNJCcoBa
— Ric Butler (@Ric_Butler) February 16, 2023
One student held up a sign that read “Just Like Football” while the entire student section soon broke out into Dixieland Delight.
Vescovi and Zeigler both ended the game with 15 points while Tennessee’s big men – Jonas Aidoo and Uros Plavsic – added in 12 and 10, respectively. The Vols also held future first-round NBA Draft pick Brandon Miller to just 15 points on 4-of-11 shooting during the game.
No. 6 Tennessee (13-4, 3-1 SEC) will host Alabama (12-5, 4-0 SEC) this Saturday afternoon at 2:00 p.m. ET in Knoxville’s Food City Center. The game will be an orange-out for the crowd in attendance.
To relive Tennessee’s win over No. 1 Alabama last February in Knoxville, check out the video below.
