The Good, Bad, And Ugly: Tennessee vs. Alabama
Tennessee just finished up yet another in-conference matchup with another rival school. On Saturday, the Tennessee Volunteers took on the Alabama Crimson Tide in Knoxville, Tennessee. The Vols entered the game as 4.5-point favorites over the Tide and didn’t fail to impress. The orange and white steamrolled the Crimson Tide, as the final score was 91-71 in favor of Tennessee. Here is the Tennessee vs. Alabama basketball game's good, bad, and ugly.
The Good
The fanbase was amazing. The team seemed to feed off the energy the fans in the arena gave off. It was an orange out, which seems to be a trend Tennessee goes with, considering Tennessee upset Alabama in Neyland Stadium just two seasons ago in an orange out stadium. Another good would be the overall performance from Jonas Aidoo. The self-proclaimed giraffe is constantly improving, and that showed in this matchup as the powerful big man had 19 points in 25 minutes of game time. Gainey also played great, putting up 15 points off the bench.
The Bad
The bad thing about this game was an uncharacteristic shooting night from Dalton Knecht. Although it has worked wonders in the past, it felt as if Dalton couldn’t get most of these shots to fall, as he had an 8/20 ratio from the field and a 1/6 ratio from beyond the 3-point line. A few times, it seemed Tennessee had a more open look if the ball was passed out. It’s not always the worst thing because at least the guy taking these shots is Dalton Knecht; however, it was not all that great in this matchup, and that’s why it would be listed as "bad.".
The Ugly
The ugly seems a bit obvious. Many Tennessee players got into foul trouble early and even later, forcing Tennessee to move to new looks. Aidoo was in foul trouble early, so his minutes were cut short, and Awaka also got into foul trouble as he had three fouls in five minutes. Vescovi had four fouls as well. The only players without multiple fouls were Zakai Zeigler, J.P. Estrella, Jahmai Mashack, and Josiah Jordan James. That makes a ratio of 4/10 players who had less than two fouls, which isn’t ideal, but it’s possible as this Rick Barnes defense is a bit aggressive at times.
Tennessee will now focus on ranking day and traveling to Vanderbilt for another SEC matchup on Saturday.
Tennessee Volunteers G Santiago Vescovi during the win over Alabama. (Photo by Randy Sartin of USA Today Sports)
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