Southeastern Conference co-leader Alabama seeks its first win this season against a ranked opponent when it visits No. 6 Tennessee for a Saturday showdown in Knoxville, Tenn.
The Crimson Tide (12-5, 4-0 SEC) have a six-game winning streak but are 0-3 against Top 25 teams. The Volunteers (13-4, 3-1) have won nine of their last 10 games and are a perfect 9-0 at home.
The matchup features two of the SEC’s top scorers. Alabama’s Mark Sears leads the league with 19.6 points per game. Tennessee’s Dalton Knecht is fourth at 18.5 and is coming off 36- and 39-point games, respectively, against Georgia last Saturday and Florida on Tuesday.
The Crimson Tide rank second in the SEC and fourth in the country in scoring with 90.2 points per game following a 93-75 home victory against Missouri on Tuesday.
Rylan Griffen and Aaron Estrada each scored 21 points against the Tigers and coach Nate Oats picked up his 200th career win.
Oats was pleased by how the Tide responded after Missouri pulled within 48-47 with 13:44 left.
“We were significantly better tonight,” Oats said. “We’ve had issues. We’ve had leads in four of our five losses, leads of six or more in the second half. So, I thought we did a good job of closing this thing.”
Four Alabama players are scoring in double figures with Sears, Estrada (13.6), Grant Nelson (12.6) and Griffen (10.4). Sears (47.8) and sixth man Latrell Wrightsell (45.2) both shoot better than 45 percent from 3-point range.
Tennessee never trailed in Tuesday’s 85-66 win against the Gators, who were held to 29.4 percent shooting. Knecht’s career-high 39 points included four 3-pointers and a 9-for-9 effort at the foul line.
Volunteers coach Rick Barnes applauded Knecht’s teammates for their unselfish play, feeding the hot hand.
“They want to win and they want to play well, there’s no doubt about it,” Barnes said. “They want to play well and I don’t think any of them (are selfish). To be honest with you, I was oblivious about Dalton getting close to 40 points, but (his teammates) were trying to get it for him.”
Jonas Aidoo (11.6) and Zakai Zeigler (10.3) join Knecht as double-digit scorers for Tennessee, with Josiah-Jordan James (9.7) close behind. Aidoo is sixth in the SEC with 7.5 rebounds per game.
Alabama has scored at least 74 points in all 17 games, while Tennessee is 4-3 when allowing 70 or more points.
Both teams lost to Purdue in nonconference play but they experienced different results against Mississippi State in SEC action this month. Alabama beat the Bulldogs 82-74 last Saturday, three days after the Bulldogs toppled Tennessee 77-72. Both of those games were played in Starkville, Miss.
In their last meeting, also on Rocky Top, Tennessee took down top-ranked Alabama 68-59 on Feb. 15, 2023. The Crimson Tide shot just 35.4 percent from the field and committed 19 turnovers.
The Volunteers will have a week off before visiting Vanderbilt on Jan. 27. The Tide return home to face current SEC co-leader and No. 13 Auburn on Wednesday. Tennessee and Alabama meet again on March 2 in Tuscaloosa, Ala.
–Field Level Media