TUSCALOOSA, Alabama: Everything was in place for Alabama basketball to have a historic evening. Legends and stars of the Crimson Tide, including Justin Thomas, Jalen Milroe, and Nick Saban, were present. For the first time ever, Coleman Coliseum hosted ESPN’s College GameDay on Saturday morning. In the evening, the arena was packed with excited fans, and it was completely whited out.
With one week remaining in the SEC, Alabama appeared to be on course for a victory as the Crimson Tide finished the first half with 12 straight points, giving them a two-point lead at the intermission.
However, Tennessee capitalized on the offense’s prolonged droughts without a field goal in the second half. With an 81-74 victory over No. 14 Alabama, the No. 4 Volunteers ended Alabama’s 16-game home winning run, which had stretched back to March 2022.
After the win, Alabama head coach Nate Oats remarked, “We haven’t lost an SEC game here in two years.” “We have amazing fans. They were amazing, in my opinion, for GameDay. They got loud during the game, which I felt was wonderful when we needed stops. All we have to do is execute the plays on the court. Let down by the loss we suffered at home.”
Before tipoff, the place was about ready to explode after a long day of festivities leading up to the 7 p.m. tip. Alabama held all the momentum going into the half, and the fans tried to get back into the game, but an eight-minute field goal drought gave them little to cheer about.
From 15:42 to 1:15 in the second half, the best offense in the country was held to one field goal. Alabama only scored 16 points over the final 13+ minutes of the game.
Alabama did a good job limiting Tennessee’s Dalton Knecht, the likely SEC Player of the Year frontrunner. Knecht finished with 13 points, his lowest total since Jan. 6. However, the Tennessee offense had other players step up like Zakai Zeigler and Jonas Aidoo.
Because of Alabama’s field goal drought, the Volunteers were able to build up a five-point lead with 3:38 to go. Every time Alabama cut into the lead and the crowd tried to get back into it, Tennessee had an answer.
Alabama forward Nick Pringle cut the deficit to one point on two made free throws with just under three minutes left. Oats said he really thought Alabama was going to come back and win after the free throws. Pringle had one of his better performances of the season with 13 points and nine rebounds, but ultimately, he was disappointed the Crimson Tide couldn’t deliver in front of the big crowd.
“Honestly, it’s pretty hard, pretty frustrating,” Pringle said. “We put a lot of work, detail and time into it. For us to not come out with it. It’s really tough.
The Crimson Tide no longer controls its own destiny in the SEC regular season race at 12-4 in conference, and Tennessee holding a one-game lead and head-to-head advantage with two games left. While Alabama is likely out of the SEC race, there is still a chance, plus the team is fighting for SEC and NCAA Tournament seeding over these final games at Florida and hosting Arkansas.
“When you look at our four losses in the league, they’re all to pretty good teams, three of them on the road,” Oats said. “We don’t have any bad losses to anyone on the bottom of the league, but if you’re going to win the league, you’ve got to win your home games. Now we’re going to have to go on the road and beat a good Florida team if we’ve got any chance of winning this team. We have to regroup in a short time, go on the road and try to beat a team that took us to overtime at our own place.”
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