Rick Barnes: Tennessee's defense vs. No. 1 Alabama 'might be the best I've ever seen'
Tennessee has had college basketball’s best defense for the last three months, ranked No. 1 in KenPom.com‘s adjusted defensive efficiency rating. Still, it went to another level to lead the 10th-ranked Vols to a 68-59 win over No. 1 Alabama Wednesday night.
“I’m going to tell you,” Rick Barnes told his team in the locker room after the game, “the defense for 40 minutes might be the best I’ve ever seen.”
Tennessee (20-6, 9-4 SEC) forced 19 Alabama turnovers and turned them into 26 points. The Vols had 11 steals and three blocks and limited the Crimson Tide to just four second-chance points on eight offensive rebounds.
Alabama shot just 29.6 percent from the field in the second half.
“They make you guard from really two steps outside the 3-point line,” Barnes said after the game. “If you’re not out there, because they’re confident, they’re going to shoot it and if you get out there and you’re not ready to guard the downhill drive, they’re going to get to the rim and score or spray it.”
the nation’s no. 1 defense pic.twitter.com/4Zikxqrusz
— Tennessee Basketball (@Vol_Hoops) February 16, 2023
Five-star freshman Brandon Miller led Alabama (22-4, 12-1) with 15 points and 10 rebounds. He scored just four points, all at the free-throw line, and was 0-for-6 from the field when defended by Tennessee sophomore Jahmai Mashack.
Miller had 11 points on 4-for-5 shooting when Mashack was off the floor.
Santiago Vescovi scored 15 points, including 12 in the second half, and had eight rebounds and three steals. Zakai Zeigler had 15 points of his own, to go with eight assists and two steals. Sophomore center Jonas Aidoo had the first double-double of his career, with 12 points and 11 rebounds and added three blocks.
Mashack led the team in plus/minus, with a plus-nine, in 27 minutes despite not scoring a point. He was 0-for-4 from the field but had three rebounds, two assists and three steals.
Uros Plavsic had 10 points, four rebounds and two assists. Olivier Nkamhoua finished with nine points, four rebounds and an assist.
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Barnes was missing two players in his rotation, with senior wing Josiah-Jordan James missing a second straight game with a sprained left ankle and freshman Julian Phillips out with a hip flexor strain.
“I’ve been doing this a long time,” Barnes told his team after the game, “and I’m going to tell you what, every guy that played in that game did something to help us win this game.”
Up Next: No. 10 Tennessee at Kentucky, Saturday, 1 p.m. ET, CBS
Alabama is No. 16 nationally in adjusted offensive efficiency per KenPom, scoring 116.8 points per 100 possessions. The 59 points the Tide scored in Knoxville was a season low.
Tennessee has been No. 1 in KenPom’s adjusted defensive efficiency category for the last 12 weeks, giving up just 85.8 points per 100 possessions.
“We feel like we can beat anyone in the country on any given day,” Zeigler said, “because we have the No. 1 defense in the country. Defense travels no matter what. Whether we’re making shots, whether we’re not, we know it travels all over, but give us them and that’s a huge plus because they’re great players and great additions to our team.
“But we know whether we have them or not we have that next man up mentality and whoever steps up to that plate we know is going to be ready.”
