No. 10 Tennessee knocked off No. 1 Alabama 68-59 handing the Crimson Tide their first SEC loss of the season.
The Volunteers’ defense locked up the Crimson Tide’s top-ranked offense. Alabama committed 19 turnovers including three crucial ones in crunch time.
Zakai Zegler paced the Volunteers with 15 points and eight assists; Santiago Vescovi also scored 15 points with eight rebounds. The Vols won under a balanced attack with four players in double figures. Jonas Aidoo added 12 points and 11 rebounds, and Uros Plavsic recorded 10 points off the bench.
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Brandon Miller led the Crimson Tide with 15 points and 10 rebounds, but the freshman forward fouled out late in the second half.
Tennessee snapped a two-game skid after a couple of heartbreaking losses at the buzzer all while breaking Alabama’s four-game winning streak. The Vols used their stifling defense to get the job done this time around. They held Alabama to a season-low 59 points (the Crimson Tide averages 83.4 points) on 35.4 percent shooting from the field.
A MAN OF THE PEOPLE pic.twitter.com/njZtlH0B9o
— Tennessee Basketball (@Vol_Hoops) February 16, 2023
The Crimson Tide ranked No. 1 for the first time in 20 years this week after a dominant reign on conference opponents. Now, Alabama falls to 22-4 but still sits atop the SEC. Tennessee improves to 20-6 picking up the Vols’ fourth ranked win of the year.
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