Tennessee basketball stayed unbeaten at the friendly confines of Thompson-Boling Arena at Food City Center on Saturday night as the Vols dominated Alabama, 91-71.
The Vols jumped out to an early lead and never looked back. Tennessee never trailed and Alabama never even made a run to make a game out of it. The Vols pushed their lead to 27 points in the second half before putting on cruise control.
Tennessee was stout defensively holding the nation’s top offense to its lowest scoring output of the season thanks in large part to elite defense from Zakai Zeigler and Jahmai Mashack.
“It’s a blessing because you very seldom have guys that really want to play that hard defensively and they take great pride in it,” Rick Barnes said postgame. “They’re really, really difficult to guard. But I’m just proud of the effort the guys put into it, both mentally and physically.”
Dalton Knecht and Jonas Aidoo led Tennessee offensively for the second straight game. Knecht went for 25 points while Aidoo totaled 19 points on an incredibly efficient nine-of-14 shooting from the field. Jordan Gainey also broke out of his recent slump, coming off the bench to hit three first half triples and score 15 points in the win.
Following the game, RTI’s Ric Butler and Ryan Schumpert broke down the dominant defensive performance, Aidoo’s big night and much more from the Vols’ lopsided win. Check it out here.
More From RTI: Everything Rick Barnes Said After Tennessee Dominated Alabama
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