Alabama kept on rolling to defeat Tennessee 73-68 on Saturday in a huge comeback win in the SEC Tournament semi-finals.
Tennessee came out on fire by scoring points in a hurry as well as playing suffocating defense, causing the Tide to start out 3-13 from the three-point line. Usually a great three-point team, Alabama needed to adapt to the Volunteer’s defense.
The Volunteers were able to run out to a 15-point lead in the first half before Alabama came roaring back from behind. That deficit is big in its own right, but to the Alabama faithful, it probably felt like a 25-point lead the way Tennessee was beginning to run away with it.
Bama did adapt to the Vol defense in the closing minutes of the first half by driving the lane and getting to the basket.
Only a handful of teams have been able to shut down the Tide’s perimeter game. While Alabama does love to shoot the deep ball, they are just as comfortable at the rim. When those adjustments are needed, one name always seems to rise to the top of the stat chart: Herb Jones.
Yes, Jones is a star in almost all of Alabama’s wins. He can knock down a three as good as anyone and when they really need to play ball underneath, he is the biggest star on the court.
Jones finished with a game-high 21 points. To put into perspective how much Jones took over this game, he was one of only two players for his team with double digit scoring and also managed to snag 13 rebounds to make it a double-double.
As a matter of fact Jones led his team in the “big three” statistics in the Tide’s win over Tennessee — scoring, rebounds and assists.
He scored over a quarter of the Tide’s points with only Jahvon Quinerly coming close with a solid 19 points.
Quinerly has become one of the Tide’s most consistent players as just a sophomore. His numbers may never be at the top, but his scoring has been above average and consistent in the latter half of the season.
Jaden Shackelford had an off night with just two points in the game. Yet it is a good sign to see players like Shackelford, Bruner and Ellis all struggle and the Tide still come out with a win. That is a testament to the talent and teamwork on this team from top to bottom.
The Crimson Tide will play in the SEC Championship game on Sunday at 12:00 p.m. CT. Bama will face off against the winner of the semi-final game between Arkansas and LSU.
Alabama swept LSU in the regular season but did suffer a loss to Arkansas on February 24.
Arkansas has been picking up steam lately and has a similar record to Alabama, but the Tide is still the top dog in the conference and will be the favorite for the title game.
Alabama has the unique opportunity to win a conference championship in football and basketball in the same academic year tomorrow in what could be a historic year for Bama athletics.
Hayden Crigler is a contributing college football and college basketball writer for Yellowhammer News. You can contact him through email: [email protected] or on Twitter: @hayden_crigler.
