Tennessee coach Rick Barnes explains what went wrong for the Vols on Saturday night Mike Wilson/News Sentinel
TUSCALOOSA, Ala. – Jordan Bone gave Tennessee a glimmer of second-half hope against Alabama on Saturday night.
The sophomore guard stole the ball from Alabama freshman star Collin Sexton in the open court and dribbled for a wide-open basket. He rose for a two-handed dunk, but his attempt rolled harmlessly off the rim. Sexton grabbed the miss and went from end-to-end, slicing through a lackadaisical Tennessee defense for an easy lay-in and a 15-point Alabama lead that grew into Tennessee’s largest defeat this season.
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As was the tale for the Vols, who were completely dominated and had their six-game winning streak halted in a 78-50 loss to Alabama at Coleman Coliseum.
“Rough night,” Vols coach Rick Barnes said. “With this group, I don’t think I thought we could be that bad.”
Tennessee forward Grant Williams recaps the Vols' blowout loss to Alabama Mike Wilson/News Sentinel
Grant Williams was the lone Vol to reach double figures, leading UT with 16 points in its lowest-scoring game this season with a season-worst 27.6 shooting from the field. But even as No. 14 Tennessee (18-6, 8-4 SEC) struggled to score, the issues Saturday were all about defense.
“Defensively, it was as bad as we’ve played all year long, obviously,” Barnes said.
Tennessee had not allowed more than 65 points in the past eight games. Alabama reached 65 with 10:20 to play and kept attacking behind physicality from Donta Hall and sensational play from Sexton. The duo led Alabama (16-9, 7-5) with 17 and 16 points, respectively.
The Crimson Tide got to the rim with ease repeatedly, cutting through a defense that had been steadily holding teams to around 40 percent shooting during its hot streak since opening SEC play 0-2. Alabama shot 57.1 percent, getting high-percentage shots and holding a 50-18 edge in points in the paint.
“They were getting into the paint whenever they wanted,” Williams said. “They had 50 points in the paint, and that’s something that a defensive team never allows. That is just toughness right there. …
“That’s something that we have to take pride in and take more personal.”
The Vols fell behind on a Hall dunk 23 seconds into the game and never led. Hall had six dunks, many of them easy and a pair of big ones to open the second half squashed any thought of a Tennessee comeback.
“I just didn’t like the way we didn’t compete,” Barnes said. “That’s not what we’ve done all year long. We didn’t compete at all. Far and away the worst game we have played. I say that, but I don’t want to take anything away from Alabama. They did what they wanted and they won the game.”
Alabama cruised from the start, opening 7-for-9 from the field and pulling ahead 17-6 soon after the first media timeout.
The Vols whittled away at the lead and a trio of 3-pointers keyed a 12-3 run to trim the deficit to two. But the Crimson Tide had a 10-4 run to regain a stronghold on the lead, scoring all 10 points in the paint on drives, dunks and a backdoor layup.
Those same easy scores kept coming in droves for Alabama, which handed Tennessee its largest loss of the season after one of its biggest wins of the season Tuesday at Kentucky.
“What happened tonight could happen any other game if we don’t play the way we’re capable of and compete the way we’re capable of,” Barnes said. “We didn’t do that tonight. If it was an emotional letdown, it was all because of us being immature.
“The fact is I’m baffled by it, to be honest with you. But we got what we deserved.”
Bench players earn praise
Barnes sent in the back end and fringe portion of the Tennessee rotation to finish the game against Alabama. That was the lone praise-inducing part of Barnes’ postgame comments, as he singled out the efforts of Jalen Johnson, Yves Pons and Chris Darrington.
“I did think Jalen Johnson and Yves Pons really tried to play hard,” Barnes said. “Chris Darrington hadn’t played much and he came in there at the end of the game and did a couple of things good. Couple of things defensively weren’t great, but they were trying to compete I thought harder than the group that was out there.”
All three have been in and out of the rotation, with Pons earning the most playing time of the three in recent games. Johnson scored two points and Darrington had three.
Up next
Tennessee returns home to host South Carolina at 9 p.m. ET Tuesday (ESPNU).