Alabama Basketball falls to Tennessee

Unfortunately, the basketball team couldn’t hold up their end of the bargain that the football team has held since 2005, losing 59-54 after choking away a fourteen point halftime lead.

The Tide had one of their best 3-point shooting games of the season, hitting 8 out of 17. Percentage-wise, Alabama shot significantly better than Tennessee did, but did not have nearly the number of opportunities. The Volunteers out-rebounded the Tide 40-32, and Alabama turned the ball over nearly twice as much as their rivals. In those kind of situations, shot efficiency can’t always overcome the sheer number of attempts the other team has.

Riley Norris led the way off the bench with 13 points, 9 of those coming from three-pointers. Braxton Key was the only other Tide player in double digits, scoring 12 of his own and adding in a couple of blocks.

Dazon Ingram led the way with 4 assists, but only scored 5 on the night, while Donta Hall had a team high 7 rebounds. Everyone else added a few stats here and there, but the box score is mostly unimpressive.

All in all, it was a fitting end for a season that never quite lived up to what we were hoping. Alabama showed a little of bit promise and improvement from years past, but ultimately just didn’t have the mental fortitude to make anything big happen.

Jimmie Taylor, Bola Olaniyan, and Corban Collins will all be departing, but will be replaced by Collin Sexton, John Petty, Herb Jones, Alex Reese, and transfer Daniel Giddens. That is a huge influx of talent that we’ve probably never seen the likes of before in Tuscaloosa. Despite this season’s woes, next year will come with high hopes and high expectations.

Next we have the SEC tournament, and Alabama will be fighting for an NIT postseason bid. It’s unlikely that either will be much more than an end-of-season formality, but we should have at least two more Tide basketball games to watch before we hit the doldrums of spring and summer.

Roll Tide.