National Basketball Association
BOXSCORE | RECAP
Tennessee 91, Alabama 71
When: 2:00 PM ET, Saturday, January 20, 2024
Where: Thompson-Boling Arena at Food City Center, Knoxville, Tennessee
Officials: # Vladimir Voyard-Tadal, # Bart Lenox, # Terry Oglesby
Attendance: 21678

Dalton Knecht scored 25 points, Jonas Aidoo had 19 points and four blocks, and the sixth-ranked Tennessee Volunteers routed Alabama 91-71, handing the Crimson Tide their first loss in SEC play.

Jordan Gainey added 15 points and Santiago Vescovi had 10 points for Tennessee (14-4, 4-1 SEC), which has won 10 of its last 11 games and improved to 10-0 at home. The Volunteers held the nation's fourth-ranked scoring offense under its season average of 90.2 points per game.

Mark Sears had 22 points but committed seven of Alabama's 22 turnovers. The Tide (12-6, 4-1) had their six-game winning streak snapped.

Sears was coming off a season-low nine points in Alabama's win over Missouri on Tuesday night. He injured his ankle in the first half of that game and sat out the final five minutes but was cleared to play Saturday.

Tennessee led by 13 at halftime and started the second half slowly, but the Tide couldn't capitalize. They committed two turnovers and Grant Nelson picked up two quick fouls and went to the bench with four with 18:46 left.

He eventually fouled out with 6:49 left after scoring just three points.

Aidoo made a layup and one free throw and Zakai Zeigler drained a 3-pointer to give the Volunteers a 59-41 lead.

The teams traded points until Aidoo made a layup with 8:39 left to give Tennessee a 73-52 lead. The Volunteers put it away over the next three minutes, going on an 8-2 run to lead 81-54.

Aidoo made the first two points of the game to give the Volunteers a lead they never relinquished. Pringle's layup early in the first half got Alabama within three but that was as close as it got.

Knecht hit a 3-pointer to push Tennessee's lead to 21-12 and it increased to 12 after one of the Tide's 13 turnovers in the first half.

The Volunteers led by as many as 16 points, but Alabama cut it to 10 on Nelson's layup. Gainey hit a 3-pointer to make it 50-37 at the break.

--Field Level Media

Top Game Performances
 
Alabama   Tennessee
Mark Sears 22 Scoring Dalton Knecht 25
Aaron Estrada 5 Assists Zakai Zeigler 6
Rylan Griffen 5 Rebounds Jordan Gainey 5
Mark Sears 7 Free Throws Made Dalton Knecht 8
Mark Sears 2 Steals Zakai Zeigler 4
Mouhamed Dioubate 1 Blocks Jonas Aidoo 4
Team Stats Summary
 
Team Points FG% 3PM-3PA FTM-FTA Assists Rebounds Blocks Steals Turnovers
Alabama 71 44.6 4-21 17-24 9 31 4 5 22
Tennessee 91 48.5 10-28 17-25 21 29 6 15 7