No. 5 Tennessee basketball heads back to Rocky Top on Saturday to face No. 6 Alabama in a top-10 tilt. Read more for a full Tennessee vs Alabama prediction and preview.
After a two-game road trip, No. 5 Tennessee basketball returns to Knoxville on Saturday afternoon for a critical SEC and NCAA tournament seeding game against the No. 6 Alabama Crimson Tide, broadcast live from Food City Center.
The Volunteers and Crimson Tide will face off in league action this Saturday for the first time this season.
Tennessee has won the last three encounters with the Tide, the most recent being an 81-74 victory on Mar. 2, 2024.
This game is a battle of strengths.
In conference games, Alabama leads the SEC in scoring (92.9 points per game), field goal percentage (49.7), and 3-pointers made (162).
Meanwhile, Tennessee boasts the SEC’s and the nation’s top defense. It has the league’s fewest points allowed (64.7 ppg) and lowest field-goal percentage (39.5%) in conference games.
“They are trying to do what they’re doing, and we’re trying to do what we’re doing,” Vols head coach Rick Barnes said in a presser. “But they still sometimes get the look (at open shots) that they want to get.
General Information:
Teams: No. 5 Tennessee (23-5, 10-5) and No. 6 Alabama (23-5, 12-3)
Tip-Off: 4 p.m. EST
Watch: ESPN
Latest on Alabama basketball:
Alabama is entering the game off of its best game on both ends of the floor, with a season-high 111 points.
With Ramadan starting, Mouamed Dioubate will have to prepare to play while fasting simultaneously.
“He’s gonna have to get himself a good meal before the sun comes up. He’ll be up before the rest of us to make sure he’s eating. He seemed to handle it pretty well last year,” said head coach Nate Oats.
Grant Nelson has struggled as of late and needs to get back to being aggressive around the basket to make plays.
“We do need Grant to be a little more aggressive and a little bit more efficient in his minutes,” said Oats.
Graduate guard Mark Sears, the SEC Preseason Player of the Year, paces the Crimson Tide with 19.0 ppg, second-best in the SEC, and 5.0 apg. Sears is on the injury report and is probable for the game.
“He’s had great success,” Barnes said of Sears. “He should be a confident player. You got to give a lot of credit to him and 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.”
Sophomore guard Aden Holloway is averaging 14.2 points over the last 10 games.
The Crimson Tide have lost once on the road in SEC play this season.
Latest on Tennessee basketball:
Tennessee is on track for a double bye in the SEC Tournament with three games left in the regular season.
Despite their sluggish starts, the Vols have been victorious. However, if that trend continues, Alabama is unlikely to give the Vols a break. Tennessee must play with urgency from the start of this game.
Tennessee point guard Zakai Zeigler stated that the Vols must play loose and not let the game plan dominate their thinking. Otherwise, Alabama will take charge.
“Listening to the game plan is important, but we’ve looked too deep into the scouting report instead of going all out,” Zeigler told reporters. “We’ve got to come out with more of an underdog mindset.”
In its most recent outing, Rick Barnes’ squad trailed LSU for only 92 seconds before winning 65-59 on Tuesday night.
The 5-foot-9 Zeigler delivered another strong second half to help Tennessee pull away, ending with 17 points and three assists.
Zeigler has scored 16 points or more in nine of the last 12 games, including the previous six.
Junior forward Felix Okpara notched 15, one shy of his career high, on a perfect 6-of-6 field-goal mark and an unblemished 3-of-3 free-throw ledger.
Chaz Lanier scored 14 points and went 3-of-8 from 3-point range, while senior guard Jahmai Mashack added nine points.
Besides a deep run in the SEC Tournament, Saturday’s game is the Vols’ best chance to secure a No. 1 seed. According to ESPN’s Joe Lunardi, Alabama and Houston have the lowest two No. 1 seeds, while Tennessee has the highest No. 2 seed. This game has the potential to shake up those projections.
Tennessee basketball aims to keep its momentum rolling and extend its win streak to four in a top-10 home showdown against the No. 6 Alabama Crimson Tide.