Opening Statement…
“Tennessee proved why they’ve got the No. 1 defense in the country. They did a great job on us. We turned the ball over way too much. They had eight turnovers; we had 19 turnovers. We scored two points off their eight turnovers; they scored 26 points off our 19 turnovers. To me, that’s the biggest area of the game. It was their physicality. They got into our guards. We didn’t handle it well. We obviously didn’t do a great job preparing our guys to go against the physicality that was gonna come with this game. The underneath out-of-bounds where we turned it over a few times – the coaching staff’s gotta do better, I’ve gotta do a better job getting us ready to play a game like this. We only get them once. If we get them again, it’ll be in the SEC Tournament. Hopefully, we’re better prepared to play against a defense like this. Our guys have now seen it. There’s a reason these guys are good. Their record isn’t what everybody thought it was gonna be in conference because they’ve been the unluckiest team I’ve seen with the last two losses, losing back-to-back games quite like they did. This is a really good team, and they showed it tonight. Our other issue is we didn’t finish at the rim well. They’ve got shot-blocking, they’ve got presence at the rim. We shot 6-of-20 at the rim, 30 percent. If you finish 30 percent at the rim and have 19 turnovers, you’re gonna make it really hard on yourself to win. I thought our defense was good enough to win the game. We ended up out-rebounding them. They’re a great rebounding team. Brandon and Clowney with (10) and (11) rebounds each. I thought they played pretty well on the glass, but our offense was down tonight.”
Benny’s Breakdown: Alabama got another reminder that it isn’t invincible. Tennessee’s physicality and stingy defense gave the Crimson Tide offense fits all night long. The offense committed 19 turnovers which is the team’s highest amount since its road win against Mississippi State on Dec. 28. The poor ball security contributed to Alabama’s anemic offense as it set a new season-low in scoring with 59 points, a mere six points shy from its previous low of 65 against South Alabama. Alabama was out-of-sync from the opening tip and despite its heroics against Auburn on Saturday, it couldn’t repeat that on Knoxville.
On the difference in Tennessee’s physicality compared to Houston…
“We didn’t turn the ball over in the second. Houston’s physicality and pressure bothered us early and then I thought we settled in and did a better job late. We got more stops against Houston late, too. Our defense was not the issue tonight overall, but we couldn’t get stops late in the game when we needed to like we did against Houston. We’ve found a way to get some stops and score some buckets to kind of open that thing up against Houston. We couldn’t do that against them tonight.”
Benny’s Breakdown: With Tennessee losing three of its last four games coming into Wednesday, the Volunteers were looking to right the ship against Alabama. Tennessee did just that and showcased why its No. 1 in defensive efficiency according to KenPom. Alabama shot 38% from the field after going 8-for-27 in the second half. The abysmal shooting and the onslaught of turnovers helped the Volunteers find its offensive groove, shooting 46% in the final 20 minutes and then outscoring Alabama by a 26-2 margin in points off of turnovers.
On how much Charles Bediako being limited affected the defense…
“They were obviously able to finish some stuff at the rim late that I don’t think they would have got if Chuck was healthy. Clowney’s played well for us, he played well tonight. They had two guys out, too. They would have been a lot better if their two guys played, too. That’s basketball. Charles was able to give us some minutes. But yeah, I do think he would have impacted the game defensively. He kind of anchors our defense, makes it harder to score in the paint, and we didn’t have him, so it hurt. We’ve gotta learn how to play without different guys when they’re hurt.”
Benny’s Breakdown: Bediako’s “minor knee injury” left him ineffective against Tennessee’s frontcourt. The sophomore scored four points and tallied five rebounds in 17 minutes of playing time. He played 12 minutes in the first half but really labored in the second frame, hauling in one rebound in five minutes. Without its rim protector, Tennessee went 14-for-22 on layups and dunks while tallying 13 offensive rebounds in the win. While Alabama tried to use its depth with Nick Pringle, it did little to slow down the Volunteers.
On Jaden Bradley’s aggressiveness in trying to get to the rim…
“He attacked their pressure like we needed to. He had four assists, two turnovers. You kind of look down the list, nobody else had a positive turnover-to-assist ratio. The best anybody else had was even. And he got the free-throw line. He converted them fairly well. He was 10-of-14. I thought he attacked it the way we needed to. It’s probably why he played the most out of all those guards. We’ve gotta get our other guards – we’ve gotta get Mark and Jahvon – Jahvon’s been good against these guys in the past. I was hoping he would kind of get it going. His shooting percentage and turnovers I thought were a little uncharacteristic of him. He didn’t handle the pressure as well as we would have liked.”
Benny’s Breakdown: Bradley did his best to recreate the magic he showed in Auburn on Saturday. With Alabama needing an offensive boost, it turned to the freshman guard who tallied eight points in the final frame. Once again he did most of that driving to the paint and getting to the free-throw line. He was one of just three players who got to the charity, leading the team in free-throw attempts with 14. As a result, he was one of three Alabama scorers who tallied 10 points or more in the loss. As for his fellow guards Mark Sears and Jahvon Quinerly, they struggled at The Summit. The duo combined for five points on 2 of 11 shooting and nine turnovers.
On how Jahmai Mashack, Jonah Aidoo affected Alabama’s offense…
“Aidoo had three blocks. I remember a couple layups I thought you would have had, and he protects the rim. He does a great job for them. Mashack’s definitely their first defense. That’s why they’re playing him. He does a good job. He was physical with Brandon. He made Brandon’s night a lot harder. They’ve got defensive players on that team. You kind of go down the line. Even Julian Phillips is a great defender, and he didn’t play tonight. But you look at the guys that did play, they kind of tightened their rotation. All eight of those guys really guard on the defensive end. They talk about Mashack being a stopper, and he played over 27 minutes and didn’t score a point. He’s obviously in there for his impact on the defensive end. He did a great job tonight.”
Benny’s Breakdown: Kudos to Tennessee’s defense, it was able to slow Miller down enough to get a much-needed victory. Miller scored nine points after tallying 13 against Auburn. What looked to be another big night in the making for the freshman phenom, Tennessee’s Jahmai Mashack unceremoniously stopped the scoring barrage. Miller scored six points in the final frame before fouling out of the game. While Wednesday marks his seventh double-double of the season, the loss of Miller in the second half didn’t help a cold offensive night for Alabama.
“Tennessee proved why they’ve got the No. 1 defense in the country. They did a great job on us. We turned the ball over way too much. They had eight turnovers; we had 19 turnovers. We scored two points off their eight turnovers; they scored 26 points off our 19 turnovers. To me, that’s the biggest area of the game. It was their physicality. They got into our guards. We didn’t handle it well. We obviously didn’t do a great job preparing our guys to go against the physicality that was gonna come with this game. The underneath out-of-bounds where we turned it over a few times – the coaching staff’s gotta do better, I’ve gotta do a better job getting us ready to play a game like this. We only get them once. If we get them again, it’ll be in the SEC Tournament. Hopefully, we’re better prepared to play against a defense like this. Our guys have now seen it. There’s a reason these guys are good. Their record isn’t what everybody thought it was gonna be in conference because they’ve been the unluckiest team I’ve seen with the last two losses, losing back-to-back games quite like they did. This is a really good team, and they showed it tonight. Our other issue is we didn’t finish at the rim well. They’ve got shot-blocking, they’ve got presence at the rim. We shot 6-of-20 at the rim, 30 percent. If you finish 30 percent at the rim and have 19 turnovers, you’re gonna make it really hard on yourself to win. I thought our defense was good enough to win the game. We ended up out-rebounding them. They’re a great rebounding team. Brandon and Clowney with (10) and (11) rebounds each. I thought they played pretty well on the glass, but our offense was down tonight.”
Benny’s Breakdown: Alabama got another reminder that it isn’t invincible. Tennessee’s physicality and stingy defense gave the Crimson Tide offense fits all night long. The offense committed 19 turnovers which is the team’s highest amount since its road win against Mississippi State on Dec. 28. The poor ball security contributed to Alabama’s anemic offense as it set a new season-low in scoring with 59 points, a mere six points shy from its previous low of 65 against South Alabama. Alabama was out-of-sync from the opening tip and despite its heroics against Auburn on Saturday, it couldn’t repeat that on Knoxville.
On the difference in Tennessee’s physicality compared to Houston…
“We didn’t turn the ball over in the second. Houston’s physicality and pressure bothered us early and then I thought we settled in and did a better job late. We got more stops against Houston late, too. Our defense was not the issue tonight overall, but we couldn’t get stops late in the game when we needed to like we did against Houston. We’ve found a way to get some stops and score some buckets to kind of open that thing up against Houston. We couldn’t do that against them tonight.”
Benny’s Breakdown: With Tennessee losing three of its last four games coming into Wednesday, the Volunteers were looking to right the ship against Alabama. Tennessee did just that and showcased why its No. 1 in defensive efficiency according to KenPom. Alabama shot 38% from the field after going 8-for-27 in the second half. The abysmal shooting and the onslaught of turnovers helped the Volunteers find its offensive groove, shooting 46% in the final 20 minutes and then outscoring Alabama by a 26-2 margin in points off of turnovers.
On how much Charles Bediako being limited affected the defense…
“They were obviously able to finish some stuff at the rim late that I don’t think they would have got if Chuck was healthy. Clowney’s played well for us, he played well tonight. They had two guys out, too. They would have been a lot better if their two guys played, too. That’s basketball. Charles was able to give us some minutes. But yeah, I do think he would have impacted the game defensively. He kind of anchors our defense, makes it harder to score in the paint, and we didn’t have him, so it hurt. We’ve gotta learn how to play without different guys when they’re hurt.”
Benny’s Breakdown: Bediako’s “minor knee injury” left him ineffective against Tennessee’s frontcourt. The sophomore scored four points and tallied five rebounds in 17 minutes of playing time. He played 12 minutes in the first half but really labored in the second frame, hauling in one rebound in five minutes. Without its rim protector, Tennessee went 14-for-22 on layups and dunks while tallying 13 offensive rebounds in the win. While Alabama tried to use its depth with Nick Pringle, it did little to slow down the Volunteers.
On Jaden Bradley’s aggressiveness in trying to get to the rim…
“He attacked their pressure like we needed to. He had four assists, two turnovers. You kind of look down the list, nobody else had a positive turnover-to-assist ratio. The best anybody else had was even. And he got the free-throw line. He converted them fairly well. He was 10-of-14. I thought he attacked it the way we needed to. It’s probably why he played the most out of all those guards. We’ve gotta get our other guards – we’ve gotta get Mark and Jahvon – Jahvon’s been good against these guys in the past. I was hoping he would kind of get it going. His shooting percentage and turnovers I thought were a little uncharacteristic of him. He didn’t handle the pressure as well as we would have liked.”
Benny’s Breakdown: Bradley did his best to recreate the magic he showed in Auburn on Saturday. With Alabama needing an offensive boost, it turned to the freshman guard who tallied eight points in the final frame. Once again he did most of that driving to the paint and getting to the free-throw line. He was one of just three players who got to the charity, leading the team in free-throw attempts with 14. As a result, he was one of three Alabama scorers who tallied 10 points or more in the loss. As for his fellow guards Mark Sears and Jahvon Quinerly, they struggled at The Summit. The duo combined for five points on 2 of 11 shooting and nine turnovers.
On how Jahmai Mashack, Jonah Aidoo affected Alabama’s offense…
“Aidoo had three blocks. I remember a couple layups I thought you would have had, and he protects the rim. He does a great job for them. Mashack’s definitely their first defense. That’s why they’re playing him. He does a good job. He was physical with Brandon. He made Brandon’s night a lot harder. They’ve got defensive players on that team. You kind of go down the line. Even Julian Phillips is a great defender, and he didn’t play tonight. But you look at the guys that did play, they kind of tightened their rotation. All eight of those guys really guard on the defensive end. They talk about Mashack being a stopper, and he played over 27 minutes and didn’t score a point. He’s obviously in there for his impact on the defensive end. He did a great job tonight.”
Benny’s Breakdown: Kudos to Tennessee’s defense, it was able to slow Miller down enough to get a much-needed victory. Miller scored nine points after tallying 13 against Auburn. What looked to be another big night in the making for the freshman phenom, Tennessee’s Jahmai Mashack unceremoniously stopped the scoring barrage. Miller scored six points in the final frame before fouling out of the game. While Wednesday marks his seventh double-double of the season, the loss of Miller in the second half didn’t help a cold offensive night for Alabama.
