Nichols: No. 7 Tennessee needs refined resolutions after humbling loss to Alabama in Knoxville

The Vols suffered their first loss of the season Saturday night. Now, how will they respond?

I think we all made several resolutions for 2021.

For me, those resolutions are about cherishing the little moments and being more present with the ones I love — two things I was able to do more in 2020 than ever before.

For a seventh-ranked Tennessee basketball team after a 71-63 loss to unranked Alabama in Knoxville? Well, there are a few ideas that come to mind.

Digging deep when faced with adversity, making free-throws, better 3-point defense and simply finding newer ways to win, to name some.

I’m already working on my New Year’s resolutions.

But Tennessee didn’t discover its own until Saturday.

Granted, the Vols’ flaws were visible in earlier games, especially against Colorado and Cincinnati.

The red-hot Crimson Tide just ripped off the Band-Aid.

So where do we go now?

Not over the cliff, if that’s what you’re wondering.

A 7-0 start was a lot more fun to watch than whatever Saturday was. Writing about that hot streak wasn’t half bad, either.

But a humbling night, especially this early, could be invaluable for Tennessee once March creeps closer.

“We’ve got to learn how to fight back and be resilient,” said Josiah Jordan-James. “I think this game will definitely help us in that.”

Added Rick Barnes: “If they are overconfident, that’s over with now. Bottom line, we didn’t execute.”

That ‘didn’t execute’ line might sound like something straight out of a Jeremy Pruitt press conference.

The difference, though, is that Pruitt used lack of execution as his primary line of defense, when his actual defense was misaligned and mutilated.

Barnes, on the other hand, is spot-on.

His team went 21-for-66 from the floor, 4-for-21 from three, and 17-for-26 from the charity stripe Saturday night.

Improvements on that last statistic alone could’ve won the game for Tennessee.

Instead, the Vols are staring at their first loss of the season and first in the SEC, with Alabama nailing five straight 3-pointers at one point to bury Tennessee on its home floor.

“They deserved to win and we didn’t,” Barnes said.

Added Yves Pons, who dealt with foul trouble but kept the Vols afloat with five blocks: “They ran us out of our place.”

And that’s where Tennessee’s resolutions come into play.

Not in Thompson-Boling Arena, but next door in Pratt Pavilion, where the Vols practice.

So let’s start with the part about digging deep.

Several times in Saturday night’s second half, Tennessee drew within single digits. The Vols just couldn’t close the deal.

“They gave us a lot of opportunities to get back at the end of the second half,” said Pons. “We didn’t take it.”

That has to change immediately.

Whether it’s Pons, John Fulkerson, Keon Johnson or Victor Bailey — Tennessee has to have someone to play through late in games.

It has to have a go-to guy. Grant Williams was one. Now, Rick Barnes needs another.

Not someone with Williams’ exact stature, mind you. But with the mindset and willingness to put the team on his back.

Maybe it’s Fulkerson. Maybe it’s Pons.

Saturday, it was no one on the Tennessee bench.

Pons isn’t the primary player at fault for the Vols’ loss to Alabama, though. Fulkerson will shoulder more of the load for that duo’s performance on Saturday, and he should.

“As far as I’m concerned, guys can take Fulkerson’s minutes,” Barnes said. “He’s got to bring more than he brought (Saturday).”

As for Pons, a third and controversial foul benched the reigning SEC Defensive Player of the Year early in the second half. His minutes waned after that.

Without their French “fix-it play,” as Barnes calls the typically Pons-based response after a screw-up, the Vols flailed.

“It’s definitely a lot different,” said James of playing without Pons. “We know that when he’s out, we’ve got to step up even more because he’s not back there blocking every shot.”

But it wasn’t just Pons who was absent late Saturday.

The Vols also lost Jaden Springer to a rolled ankle. Springer went down in the first half, limped to the bench and headed to the locker room later in the half.

He returned to the sideline but did not play in the final 20 minutes.

Barnes said in the press conference that he would check on the freshman, who is now listed as day-to-day, according to a report from the Knoxville News-Sentinel.

That’s another glaring absence for Tennessee.

Want a third? Check the free-throw line.

As mentioned, the Vols were just 17-of-26 from the charity stripe.

Nine misses. And Tennessee lost by eight.

Still, it could’ve saved itself with some better 3-point defense, which has long been an Achilles heel for Rick Barnes teams.

With rock-solid defense and high-flying offense through the first seven games, that issue seemed to disappear, or at least fade.

Until Alabama’s exposé, that is.

The Crimson Tide went 8-of-11 from long range in the second half, including the aforementioned five straight.

I mentioned in a previous column that it would likely be Auburn or Arkansas that would give this Tennessee team the most trouble.

Ironically enough, the Vols’ trouble started with Auburn’s biggest rival.

So just imagine what Bruce Pearl’s Tigers, who are lights-out from long range every night, could do if the Vols don’t get that fixed.

As mentioned, Tennessee has time.

March is months away.

But to right itself against that other dangerous team, a feisty Arkansas group that visits Knoxville Wednesday, the Vols will also need a final resolution: to find newer ways to win games.

That encompasses each and every one of the Vols’ other struggles on Saturday, and it will remain the most important aspect going forward.

There will be games without Pons and Springer. There will be nights when shots don’t fall. 

Still, they have to find a way. That’s the only route to winning in March.

In their first SEC test for 2021, the Vols failed.

The good news, though, is that they have the talent, the time and the resolve to correct course.

We know they can. 

We’ll find out Wednesday whether they will.