Volunteer Country

Alabama vs Tennessee - Keys to the Win for The Vols

Feb 22, 2025; College Station, Texas, USA; Tennessee Volunteers head coach Rick Barnes speaks during a time-out in the second half against the Texas A&M Aggies at Reed Arena. Mandatory Credit: Maria Lysaker-Imagn Images
Feb 22, 2025; College Station, Texas, USA; Tennessee Volunteers head coach Rick Barnes speaks during a time-out in the second half against the Texas A&M Aggies at Reed Arena. Mandatory Credit: Maria Lysaker-Imagn Images | Maria Lysaker-Imagn Images

The Tennessee Volunteers host the Alabama Crimson Tide Saturday afternoon in what is shaping up to be a showdown between two highly-ranked tournament teams. Here are the keys to the win.

While it has been a great season for the Vols, they face arguably their biggest challenge of the season today as they host the number six ranked Alabama Crimson Tide. Led by head coach Nate Oats, the Tide boasts the number one scoring attack in the nation, averaging 91.5 points per game. Despite the powerful offensive attack, they come into Knoxville facing the number one scoring defense. With both teams being dominant on opposite sides of the ball, we are in for a show. Here is how the Vols send the Tide back to Tuscaloosa with a loss. 

Improve Offensively:

Despite being an elite defensive team, the Vols are pedestrian when it comes to putting the ball in the basket, ranking 14th in the SEC in scoring average. Earlier in the season, they held the Auburn Tigers to an impressive 53 points, but in return only scored 51. This will not beat the Tide. Led by the sharpshooting Chaz Lanier, the Vols will likely have to play their best offensive game of the season to leave with a victory. 

Win the Turnover Battle:

The Tide may have the best scoring average in the country, but they are second in the SEC in turnovers. In their last loss against Missouri, they lost the turnover battle by six, racking up 14 total in the game. They also do not force many turnovers, ranking second to last last in the SEC in turnovers and rank in the bottom 40 nationally. When the Tide lose the turnover battle, they typically lose the game. Going against a vaunted Vols defense, they have a razor-thin margin for error when it comes to taking care of the ball.

Do Not Let Mark Sears Get Hot:

The Tide are led by senior guard, Mark Sears, who averages 19 points per game. He has a season high of 35 points and is more than effective from all three levels of scoring. When he is on, the Tide are hard to stop. Vols head coach Rick Barnes sang high praise of Sears, stating, 

“He’s had great success. He should be a confident player. You got to give a lot of credit to him and to Nate and his staff. They put him in a great position and he knows that system, what they want from him. But he’s been in a lot of high-level games and he, pretty much, I think he does what Nate wants him to do.” 

Coach Barnes will surely throw different looks at Sears to keep the ball out of his band and make him uncomfortable. However, one of basketball’s longest standing cliches is “good offense beats good defense.” If the Vols are unable to contain Sears, it is going to be a long night.

The game is set to tip off at 4 PM eastern time on ESPN.

OTHER TENNESSEE NEWS

Follow Our Social Media Pages:

• Follow Tennessee on SI on Twitter: @VolsOnSI
• Follow Tennessee on SI on Facebook: @VOLS on SI

Follow Our Staff:

Follow Our Website

Make sure to follow our website Tennessee on SI.

Published
Home/Men's Basketball