Tennessee basketball dominated Alabama 91-71 at Thompson-Boling Arena at Food City Center in a pivotal SEC matchup on Saturday afternoon. The Vols never trailed and physically dominated Alabama for 40 minutes in a complete performance.
Here’s three quick takeaways on the victory.
Turnovers And Rebounding A Massive Difference
Last season, Tennessee shut down No. 1 Alabama by forcing an abundance of turnovers and by using its defense to slow down star Brandon Miller.
The story was much the same on Saturday afternoon as Tennessee held the nation’s top offense to its lowest scoring output of the season. The biggest reasons why? Alabama turned it over frequently and Tennessee shutdown Crimson Tide star Mark Sears.
Alabama turned the ball over 13 times in the first half on its way to a season-high 22 turnovers for the game. Many of the turnovers were silly but, like it was last season, it was clear Tennessee’s physicality and defensive intensity made the Crimson Tide uncomfortable.
Sears wasn’t inefficient like Miller was last season, shooting seven-of-13 from the field, but Tennessee limited his ability to get open shots. The star guard was also responsible for part of Alabama’s turnover issue, coughing it up seven times.
A less surprising development from the game was how Tennessee controlled the glass. Alabama is weak in the interior and it showed as Tennessee out rebounded the Crimson Tide 11-9 on the offensive end.
The turnovers and rebounds led to Tennessee taking 22 more shots than Alabama in the first half and 10 more shots than Alabama over the course of the game. That’s a recipe for success.
Jordan Gainey Breaks Out Of His Slump
Santiago Vescovi was cooking early. He hit a three, had a sweet finish at the basket and had a pair of nice passes to Jonas Aidoo leading to baskets.
That’s what made it frustrating when Vescovi picked up his second foul with 8:06 remaining in the first half. Besides Jahmai Mashack, Tennessee’s guard off the bench have struggled in recent weeks which made it all the more concerning.
But then Jordan Gainey completely broke out of his slump with a fantastic 13 point half. Gainey was just one-of-nine from the perimeter and had totaled only three points in the Vols’ first four SEC games.
Gainey got an open look in the corner and knocked it down and you could feel the weight lifted off his shoulders. It was the first of three triples the USC Upstate transfer hit in the first half as he was Tennessee’s second leading scorer on only seven points.
Hitting open shots from the perimeter is what Tennessee is looking for from Gainey but he also had a put back bucket and drew a foul at the bucket.
Gainey doesn’t do all the little things that Vescovi is so good at, but his scoring output lessened Vescovi’s absence and was a good sign for a player who is a meaningful role player but had been badly struggling.
The shooting guard only added two points in the second half but his first half spurt was of great importance.
Knecht And Aidoo Propel The Offense
For the second time this week, Dalton Knecht and Jonas Aidoo propelled Tennessee’s offense in the lopsided win. Through five SEC games Knecht, Aidoo and Zakai Zeigler are Tennessee’s best and most consistent scorers. While Zeigler was good (eight points and six assists) it was Knecht and Aidoo that Alabama had few answers for.
Knecht was quiet offensively compared to the two-game tear he was on entering the matchup but still put up a quiet 25 points on eight-of-20 shooting from the field.
What was encouraging about Knecht’s performance was that he did it on a night when he was struggling shooting from the perimeter. The Northern Colorado transfer is far from just a perimeter shooter but his best nights come when he hits some perimeter shots early to open up driving ranges. But Knecht had his strong offensive output on just one-of-six shooting from the perimeter.
Like Vescovi, Aidoo started fast but then spent much of the final 10 minutes of the first half on the bench with two fouls. But against Alabama’s soft front court, Aidoo absolutely dominated inside.
The 6-foot-11 junior got to his left hand whenever he wanted and went for 19 points on an incredibly efficient 9-of-14 shooting from the field. Aidoo didn’t dominate the glass but added five boards and did a great job protecting the rim against Alabama’s potent offense. He finished with four blocks.
Now through five SEC games, Knecht is averaging 27.2 points and Aidoo is averaging 16.2 points per game.
Final Stats
Up Next
Tennessee basketball has a midweek open date before traveling to Nashville to face instate rival Vanderbilt next Saturday. Tipoff at Memorial Gymnasium is at 6 p.m. ET. SEC Network is broadcasting the game.
