TUSCALOOSA, Ala. — This wasn’t what red-hot Tennessee expected when it boarded a flight to Tuscaloosa on Friday.
Everything has gone right for the Vols of late. A four-game winning streak. Renewed interest in Knoxville. Long, sustained stretches of great offensive play. Defensive grit that most SEC coaches would be envious of. A momentum-building win at Florida.
Then ... pop. An ugly first half coupled with an abysmal second half deflated a swelling balloon. Just like that, everything went wrong on Saturday.
Of all teams, it was depleted Alabama, playing without its top two players, that brought Tennessee back to reality. When the Vols returned to the airport for a quick 40-minute flight back north Saturday afternoon, a 62-50 loss was left in the vapor trail.
“They were aggressive, they were assertive and they wanted to win this game,” said Tennessee coach Cuonzo Martin, referring to the underhanded Tide instead of his streaking Vols.
Martin’s improving team took a step back Saturday at Coleman Coliseum. After scrambling to survive a sloppy opening half and escaping with a 29-25 deficit, the Vols were manhandled. Over an eight-minute stretch, Tennessee (14-13, 6-6) committed eight turnovers and shot 1-for-8 from the field to ignite an 18-2 Alabama run. The Tide’s defense swarmed like flies to light on a summer night.
Full-court pressure reeked havoc, half-court traps caused chaos.
“We couldn’t hold on to the ball,” said Jeronne Maymon, who finished with a game-high 20 points on 6-of-8 shooting, but committed five turnovers. “We had a lot of turnovers when no one was around us. We were throwing the ball a little too wildly and just losing control. It was mainly on us.”
“We turned the ball over three or four times and we were’t knocking shots down at all,” said Trae Golden, who washed out his 12 points with six turnovers.
The Vols blinked and a 34-33 deficit with over 16 minutes remaining turned into a 52-35 mountain with just under six minutes left.
Alabama (17-9, 6-6) rolled from there.
“They did a good job of really executing their press and really getting out in the passing lanes,” Martin said. “Even in the halfcourt when the ball got across, I think they had about three or four steals getting tipped balls, trapping, and making great plays.”
The Vols, meanwhile, were not. They were wide-eyed and on their heels for the entire 40 minutes. Their composed play of late was nowhere to be found. As missed jumpers drew iron, they became hesitant to shoot. As turnovers piled up, they became reluctant to make a decision with the ball.
Tennessee committed 17 turnovers (versus nine assists) and shot 34.1 percent (15 of 44) from the field and 20.0 percent (4 of 20) from 3-point distance for the game. Shooters Skylar McBee and Cameron Tatum each went 0-for-6. The Vols were outrebounded 37-31 thanks to limited minutes from Jarnell Stokes (foul trouble) and the absence of Kenny Hall (suspended).
Stokes was pulled off the court after picking up two fouls in the game’s opening minutes. The freshman sat on the bench for the remainder of the half.
“As a guy gets older, you get a feel for his situation, you understand who you have,” Martin said. “In this case, I think it was just safe to sit (Stokes) down in the first half.
As the Vols’ offense floundered soon after Stokes hit the bench, Bama pieced together a 19-4 run to erase Tennessee’s early 13-8 lead. The Orange attack consisted of Maymon and not much else. With 2:35 left in the first half, the Vols’ big man had 12 of team’s 17 points and UT trailed by nine.
If not for eight straight points by Golden, aided by back-to-back 3-pointers, Tennessee would have faced a double-digit halftime margin.
No one, though, had an answer in the second half. Alabama registered 11 steals that led to layups, open looks and 19 free-throw attempts. The Tide’s four-guard lineup looked like an eight-guard lineup. Trevor Lacey (18 points), Trevor Releford (13) and Andrew Steele (10) zipped up and down the floor.
You would have never known Bama stars JaMychal Green (14.1 ppg) and Tony Mitchell (13.1 ppg) were suspended, and Nick Jacobs, a starter averaging 5.7 ppg, was out with a mouth infection.
“(Adversity) is just part of the game,” said Alabama coach Anthony Grant. “But to go out the way they did — they competed well and played hard. They picked themselves up and kept moving by affecting every part of the game today.”
Conversely, Martin said his team settled instead of attacked. Throughout their strong play in recent weeks, themes like overcoming adversity, competing and playing hard were the compliments showered on the Vols.
On Saturday, they got beat at their own game.
