TUSCALOOSA, Ala. — An Alabama basketball team in need of a reversal in recent fortune received a bit of a break prior to Wednesday night’s SEC opener against Tennessee as the visiting Volunteers found themselves without starters Kennedy Chandler and Justin Fulkerson due to COVID-19.
No. 19 Alabama needed all the help it could get on the night as it survived a poor shooting performance to grind out a 73-68 victory over No. 14 Tennessee.
Facing an early crossroads its season the Crimson TIde (10-3, 1-0 in the SEC) came into the matchup losers of two of its last three games. Meanwhile, the Volunteers (9-3, 0-1) traveled to Coleman Coliseum riding a three-game winning streak, including a recent top-10 victory over Arizona.
The win wasn’t exactly how Alabama envisioned snapping out of its recent slump. The Tide turned the ball over 15 times and hit just 22.5% (7 of 31) of its 3-point attempts. However, a slumping Alabama offense was able to find its rhythm in time to pull out the win.
"It's one of those games where we struggled to make shots," Alabama head coach Nate Oats said. "A lot of that was due to Tennessee's defense. Some of it was we just missed some open shots. I thought in the past maybe guys would let their defensive intensity go down if their offense is struggling. That didn't happen tonight."
Locked in a close battle for much of the second half, a previously stone-cold Tide hit three of its final four 3-point attempts. After going 1 of 9 from deep, Jaden Shackelford buried a 3 from the corner to tie the game at 65 with 2:01 remaining. The sophomore guard then proceeded to give the Tide the lead on its following possession getting his driving layup to fall.
After a three from Tennessee forward Olivier Nkamhoua allowed the Volunteers to retake the lead inside of the final minute, Alabama guard Keon Ellis answered back with a 3 from the wing to put the Tide back on top with 40 seconds to play.
"We're going to keep shooting," said graduate forward Noah Gurley. "Everybody be in the gym, we all believe in each other. Coach tells us, if you're open, take a shot. Our focus was just on defense, we knew it would turn eventually."
Following Ellis' go-ahead 3, Alabama was able to get a stop on the other end before closing out the game on the line. The Tide's defense made the comeback possible as it held the Volunteers to 3 of 16 shooting over the game's final 10:46.
After struggling to rebound in recent games, Alabama was able to record a 43-35 advantage on the boards. However, that success came after the Volunteers bullied the Tide down low early while building a 33-23 lead with 3:23 remaining in the half. Spurred on by a 3 from Gurley, Alabama was able to stop the bleeding from there taking a 10-0 run into the break to even the game.
Gurley posted a season-high 20 points and 10 rebounds while making 8 of 10 shots from the floor, including 2 of 4 from beyond the arc. The graduate transfer came into the game averaging just 6.5 points and 3.5 rebounds while shooting just 20.7% from deep.
"That's the best game he's played since he's been here," Oats said. "He's been in the gym working. He's one of our hardest workers and that work doesn't go unrewarded. He's got a lot of confidence and he stepped up in a big way when we needed him."
Jahvon Quinerly also had a big night, chipping in 18 points on 7 of 13 shooting while Shackelford finished with 12 points.
Tennessee was led by Nkamhoua, who scored 15 points and nine rebounds. Guards Santiago Vescovi (13 points) and Zakai Zeigler (11 points) also finished in double-digit scoring on the night.
Tennessee’s two absentees on the night were notable as Chandler serves as the Volunteers’ leader in scoring (14.0 points per game) assists (5.9 per game) and steals (2.0 per game) while Fulkerson leads the team in rebounds (6.6 per game) and blocks (1.5 per game). Still, Alabama isn’t apologizing for what amounts to its third Quad 1 win over the season.
Darius Miles suited up for Alabama but did not see any action on the night. Following the game, Oats said the sophomore was available but did not play due to poor practicing habits earlier in the week. Miles came into the game averaging 7.3 points and 3.2 rebounds over 17.4 minutes.
"We played the guys who we thought were going to help us win the game tonight," Oats said.
The Tide saw the return of assistant coach Antoine Pettway, who missed the last two games due to a medical issue.
Alabama is set to travel to Florida on Jan. 5. The Gators had to postpone their season opener against Ole Miss this week as they were unable to travel due to COVID issues in their program.
