Tennessee Basketball Continues To Have The Anidote For Alabama’s High Powered Offense

No one in the SEC and few in the country have produced high-powered offenses the way Nate Oats and Alabama have in recent seasons. The Crimson Tide has ranked in the top five of offensive efficiency the last three seasons and in the top 20 each of the last five seasons.

“They’re so good,” Tennessee head coach Rick Barnes said Saturday night. “You get out there like we were and they can go by you. And they were early. And we still needed a little bit more rim protection. But they’re good. They really shoot a high number at the rim. We just wanted them, if they were going to make a bunch of threes, we wanted it to be at a high-volume number.

“And we also know that they can get it going at any time and we just didn’t want to give them anything easy. And it’s a very hard team to guard. But we were scrambling around a few times and got back.”

But no one has had the anidote for Alabama’s explosive offense like Barnes and Tennessee. The Vols are worse defensively this season then they have been in a number of seasons, but still got enough stops to earn a 78-73 victory in Tuscaloosa Saturday for their fifth consecutive win over the Crimson Tide.

Tennessee’s success has come in part because of its ability to run Alabama off the three-point line and limit the Crimson Tide’s efficiency from deep. Alabama has not made double-digit three-pointers in any of the five games.

More From RTI: Nate Ament’s Emergence Goes Into Overdrive In Tennessee Basketball Win At Alabama

Alabama’s six made three-pointers and 26 three-point attempts Saturday night were both the lowest mark of the season. Aden Holloway, the SEC’s top perimeter shooter, missing the game certainly contributed, but the low numbers were not an oddity in the series.

Over the last five meetings, Tennessee has held Alabama to one of its three lowest scoring outputs and three lowest points per possession outputs of the given season.

“I mean, we’re one of the better teams in the league these last two, three years. For whatever reason, we haven’t had so much success with them,” Alabama head coach Nate Oats said postgame. “And a lot to do with the way that they guard, and they’re tough physically, and they make it hard, and they take away your threes. We’ve just got to have a better plan on offense.”

In the first two games of the Tennessee winning streak, the Vols’ won by forcing an abundance of turnovers. Alabama has done a much better job taking care of the basketball in the last three meetings but still has not been able to crack the Vols’ defense.

More From RTI: Tennessee Basketball Matchup At Georgia Moved Back Due To Inclement Weather

Alabama’s Offensive Numbers Against Tennessee In Five Game Losing Streak

Points per possession (PPP) calculated by Bart Torvik

• 2026: 73 points (T-1st lowest of the season), 1.087 PPP (3rd lowest of the season)
• 2025: 76 points (3rd lowest of the season), 1.015 PPP (2nd lowest of the season)
• 2024 (Tuscaloosa): 74 points (T-3rd lowest of the season), 1.002 PPP (2nd lowest of the season)
• 2024 (Knoxville): 71 points (lowest of the season), 0.920 PPP (lowest of the season)
• 2023: 59 points (lowest of the season), 0.853 PPP (2nd lowest of the season)