WHAT. A. GAME! Alabama struggled early and Tennessee couldn't miss in the first half and Alabama was down double digits most of the first half. Jahvon Quinerly was robbed of the 6th man of the year and showed out these first two games scoring 19 points today to fuel the comeback. Herbert Jones finished with 20 points 13 rebounds 4 assists 3 steals and a block, but let's bench him right?! Tennessee was doing whatever they wanted to offensively to start the game and that was because they got to the free throw line and was hitting the pull-up in traffic the whole time. Throw in a couple of prayer threes and it was a perfect storm for Tennessee early. Alabama's comeback was fueled by defense forcing UT to turn it over 12 times in the 2nd half and kept the pressure on. Tennessee cooled down when Alabama pressed up on them and couldn't hit the tough shots. Alabama also dominated the paint as they typically do outscoring UT 36-26 in the paint holding Pons to 7 points and only getting 2 blocks. This team is so resilient and will never give up no matter how bad things get and its a breathe of fresh air to see. Their offense is good enough to run teams out of the gym and their defense is good enough to keep the team in the game until the offense can get going. What are always crucial at the end of close games? Free Throws. Alabama was 16/19 and Jahvon/Keon Ellis went 4/4 with under 15 seconds left to ice the game for the Tide. Im sweating and so excited to finally get to see Alabama play in an SEC Championship game in the first time in 19 years. This has the feel of a elite eight/final four season.
Alabama will face the winner of Arkansas/LSU tomorrow and I personally would love to play LSU. They play fast, do not play defense, and take a lot of bad shots. Alabama destroyed them both times they faced them this season and Arkansas is playing as good as any team in the country right now. It'll be an interesting game between the two today and one Bama fans should keep a close eye on.
Alabama will face the winner of Arkansas/LSU tomorrow and I personally would love to play LSU. They play fast, do not play defense, and take a lot of bad shots. Alabama destroyed them both times they faced them this season and Arkansas is playing as good as any team in the country right now. It'll be an interesting game between the two today and one Bama fans should keep a close eye on.