Alabama Long-Range Shooting Comes Alive, Sinks No. 7 Tennessee

After struggling to hit three-point shots this season, Alabama's long-range shooting drought ended in a big way at Thompson-Boling Arena on Saturday.

Led by senior wing John Petty Jr hitting four times beyond the arc, and leading all scorers with 19 points, Alabama took down No. 7 Tennessee, 71-63.

"This is the biggest win since I've been here," Crimson Tide coach Nate Oats proclaimed.

Actually, it was the Crimson Tide’s first road win over a top-10 team in 16 years, going back to knocking off then-No. 4 Mississippi State, 77-73 in Starkville, Miss., on Feb 21, 2004.

Petty finished 7-for-8 from the floor, including 4-for-4 from three-point range, and had six rebounds. Only one of his points was from the free-throw line.

Senior wing Herb Jones Jr. had 11 points and eight rebounds, and freshman guard Joshua Primo netted 11 and five boards.

Guard Jahvon Quinerly had 10 points and six assists as Alabama handed Tennessee its first loss of the season (7-1, 1-1 SEC).

"Herb led us in plus-minus, plus-15, but I thought Petty was great," Oats said. "Pretty obviously played well here the couple of year before I got here, he always played well on offense, but his defense has gotten so much better. We were plus-13 when Petty was in the game."

After being just 2-for-9 from three-point range during the first half, as Tennessee made a strong effort to keep the Crimson Tide from launching beyond the arc, Alabama hit five straight after the break.

A corresponding 12-2 stretch helped Alabama open up a double-digit lead, which got up to 50-36.

Five blocks by forward Yves Pons helped keep Tennessee in the game, but the Vols never got closer than a two-possession game even though the Crimson Tide offense fizzled as well.

Victor Bailey Jr. led UT in scoring with 16 points and had a career-high seven rebounds. Santiago Vescovi added 13 points and four rebounds and freshman Keon Johnson added 12 points, a season-high eight rebounds and a pair of steals.

"We just weren't good," Tennessee coach Rick Barnes said. "We got exactly what we deserved."

A late block by Jones, turned into a Jaden Shackleford 3 from the corner, helped seal the win.

“We went over those types of situations where we held big leads throughout the offseason and we made that a big point of emphasis to win close games," Jones said. "The last six to eight minutes, we knew it was going to be very important and we just stayed together as they went on their run and pulled out the win.”

Coming in, Petty had made just 16 three-pointers on the season pushing his career total to 250. The team had made 85.

Alabama (7-3, 1-0 SEC) held a slim 31-29 halftime lead after Jones made two free throws in the final seconds. The Crimson Tide had only been to the free-throw line once until the Volunteers were called for a technical foul with 36 seconds left until halftime.

It made all five of its free throws in the first half.

It finished 9 of 17.

Jones said it'll be something the team can work on, while Oats pointed to a number of other things besides the shooting that helped key the win.

“I tell our guys we have to be able to figure out how to win games when our shots aren’t dropping," Oats said. "If we’re going to win when we’re on fire and lose when we’re not, we’re not going to have a very successful season. I tell them the margin of victory can be determined by how you shoot it, but we still have to win the game. Whether it’s offensive rebounds, getting to the free throw line, getting transition buckets — it all starts with your defense and your effort.

"The guys’ effort has been really good lately.”

This story will be updated