In win over No. 1 Alabama, Vols got back to 'being the hardest playing team in the country'

Rick Barnes delivered a warning before he said it. He knew it might come across as hard to believe. But despite the run of three losses in four games, the last two decided by gut-wrenching, heartbreaking buzzer-beaters, his Tennessee basketball team didn’t waiver.

“I can tell you,” Barnes said Wednesday night, “and you guys might think I’m crazy, after those tough losses, these guys stayed with it. They didn’t splinter. They stayed together.”

The only splinter at Thompson-Boling Arena was the all-out defense No. 10 Tennessee rode in its 68-59 win over No. 1 Alabama in front of a sold-out, checkerboard crowd in Knoxville.

Playing without wings Josiah-Jordan James (ankle) and Julian Phillips (hip), the Vols (20-6, 9-4 SEC) got 15 points from both Zakai Zeigler and Santiago Vescovi. Sophomore center Jonas Aidoo had his first career double-double with 12 points and 11 rebounds and added three blocks. Uros Plavsic and Olivier Nkamhoua combined for 19 points and eight rebounds.

“They knew other guys had to step up tonight,” Barnes said of his team’s shorthanded effort. 

Sophomore wing Jahmai Mashack played 27 minutes without scoring a point, but helped hold five-star freshman phenom Brandon Miller to 15 points and 10 rebounds for Alabama (22-4, 12-1), which was held to a season-low in points while committing 19 turnovers. 

Mashack had the best plus-minus on the team — plus nine — despite going 0-for-4 from the field. He added three rebounds and a pair of assists while giving up only four points while defending Miller.

Rick Barnes: Vols beat No. 1 Alabama with ‘some incredible defensive intensity and effort’

Tennessee shot 36.5 percent from the field and just 26.1 percent from the 3-point line. And the Vols lost the rebounding battle, too, 43-39. But they had 13 offensive rebounds — five more than Alabama — that led to 14 second-chance points and scored 26 points off the 19 Crimson Tide turnovers. 

Alabama had just two points off Tennessee’s eight turnovers. 

“Just some incredible defensive intensity and effort by a lot of guys,” Barnes said. “It wasn’t one guy that went in that game tonight that didn’t help us win this game. Not one guy. Just really proud of the effort.”

Barnes was proud of his team Saturday, too, despite the 86-85 loss to Missouri. The Tigers got a long, running desperation 3-pointer from DeAndre Gholston as time expired to escape with the win, after the Vols rallied from down 17 points. Days earlier Tennessee had lost at Vanderbilt after leaving Tyrin Lawrence open in the corner for the game-winning three.

But against Alabama on Wednesday, the Vols got back to what they’re known for — effort, intensity, physicality.

“We spoke about it,” Zeigler said, “and knew that no matter what we had to get back to being the hardest playing team in the country. Whether that was on offense or defense we knew we had to get back to that.”

That’s how Tennessee rallied against Missouri, digging out of the 17-point hole. It’s how the Vols were going to have to play for 40 minutes against Alabama.  

“We played like it was the national championship game,” Zeigler said of the second half against Missouri, “so we need to bring that every single night and we carried that over tonight.”

Zeigler said his team didn’t lose their intensity as their calling card. Instead, they were just getting down on themselves too much. 

“Despite the fact that we were losing,” he said, “we know that we can’t let that go no matter what. That we always have to be the hardest playing team whether that’s on offense, whether that’s on defense or whether that’s just sticking together as brothers, we just have to always be connected and be the hardest playing team in the country.” 

Up Next: No. 10 Tennessee at Kentucky, Saturday, 1 p.m. ET, CBS

After Tennessee’s 16-2 start to the season, there were four losses over the next nine games dating back to Kentucky’s 63-56 win in Knoxville on January 14. Florida’s 67-54 in Gainesville on February 1 started the run of three losses in four games. 

“I think every game we are learning from it,” Vescovi said. “The goods and the bads. Personally, I think we are in a bad streak and having tonight kind of turned over the page. It was a good feeling for me and the whole team, I think. We are good. We are good. We are not worried about it.”

“Just playing confident,” Aidoo added. “Basketball, it goes up and down. There have been plenty of teams that have been knocked out the standings and stuff like that. We just have to keep playing hard.”

Barnes described the response against Alabama as a program win. His team staying together is a reflection of the players they’ve brought in.

“It’s the quality of players we recruit,” he said. “I think the fact that there’s a foundation there. I think the effort that goes in every day with our assistant coaches, our GAs, our support people. These guys know how much we care about them. They know it’s tough at times. I obviously can be tough with them. 

“I do know that they love this program and they’ve taken great pride in the work they’ve put into it. I just think it speaks volumes about their character as individuals. The fact that they really do care about each other and are willing to go at it in practice, then game time comes around. 

“It’s been an up and down ride because of injuries, this that or whatever,” Barnes added, “but a lot of basketball left to be played and this is where we need to grow and get better.”