Alabama's 3-Point Shooting Goes Cold in Loss to Tennessee

The Crimson Tide only made one of its final 14 3-point attempts on a disappointing night inside Coleman Coliseum.

Jan 24, 2026; Tuscaloosa, AL, USA; Alabama guard Labaron Philon Jr. (0) shoots against Tennessee guard Bishop Boswell (3) and Tennessee forward J.P. Estrella (13) at Coleman Coliseum. | Gary Cosby Jr. / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

TUSCALOOSA, Ala.— The weather wasn't the only thing ice cold in Tuscaloosa on Saturday.

On a night without its second and third-leading scorer available, Alabama was going to need some help from the paint and 3-point line against Tennessee. The Crimson Tide got a boost in the paint with the return of Charles Bediako, but the team turned in its lowest 3-point output of the season in Saturday night's 79-73 home loss to Tennessee.

No. 17 Alabama shot just 6-of-26 from beyond the arc (23.1 percent.) The six makes and 26 attempts were both set season lows.

Aden Holloway is Alabama's leading 3-point shooter on the season and did not suit up for the Crimson Tide against the Vols. Amari Allen was also ruled out. With Holloway and Allen unavailable, Labaron Philon Jr. had to play 38 minutes led the Tide with 26 points but was just 2 for 9 from beyond the arc.

"He's one of the best guards in the country, and not having them out there certainly didn't help anything," Alabama head coach Nate Oats said about Holloway. "Puts a lot of pressure on Labaron. Wrightsell had to do a lot of play-making today, which is fine. He's good at it, but then he doesn't get as many catch-and-shoot 3s. We didn't shoot it well from 3 tonight–– 23 percent. Holloway would've definitley helped with that.

"But I'm not going to make any excuses as to why we lost. I mean, we put five really good players out there at all times, just like Tennessee did, and we didn't have enough tonight."

Tennessee (13-6, 3-3 SEC) seemed to make it a point of emphasis to limit Alabama's 3-point attempts. The Tide only had seven at halftime. The Volunteer defense completely took Alabama out of its normal rhythm. It was just the second time this season that the Tide offense was held below 80 points. The 73 points was the lowest total of the season.

"If they were going to make a bunch of threes, we wanted to be in a high volume number," Tennesssee head coach Rick Barnes said after the game. "We also know that they can get it going at any time, and we just didn't want to give anything easy. It's a very hard team to guard. We were scrambling around a few times and got back. I'm just gonna give our guys credit for really staying locked in to what we were trying to get done as a team."

There were five ties and six lead changes in the second half between Alabama and Tennessee. In front of a packed Coleman Coliseum crowd, a 3-point dagger late in the game could have completely flipped the momentum in Alabama's favor, but no one was able to step up and make the timely shot.

Alabama only made one 3-pointer over the final 11:48 of the game, and it came from 6-10 forward Aiden Sherrell. The Tide made just one of its final 14 3-point attempts as the game slipped away.

"They was blowing up screens really just trying to blitz me on ball screens, trying to get the ball out of my hands, and it made me make the right decision every time," Philon said. "They did a good job at that. Just gotta get back in the gym and keep working."

The Crimson Tide (13-6, 3-3 SEC) will have to have a short memory with a quick turnaround and another home game against Missouri (14-6, 4-3 SEC) on Tuesday at 8 p.m.