The 18th-ranked Crimson Tide fell to the visiting Tennessee Volunteers 79-73 Saturday night at Coleman Coliseum. The Tide added Charles Bediako to the roster in a move that made waves in college basketball, but couldn’t overcome the absence of Aden Holloway, Amari Allen, Keitenn Bristow, Davion Hannah and Collins Onyejiaka, or the presence of UT freshman star Nate Ament. Ament tormented Bama with 29 points and seven rebounds to lead the Vols to victory. Alabama fell to 13-6 overall and 3-3 in the SEC while Tennessee improved to the same record, 13-6 and 3-3.
Coach Nate Oats used another different lineup for the game, the 11th combination of the year. Oats sent Labaron Philon, Latrell Wrightsell – just back from injury – Aiden Sherrell, Taylor Bol Bowen and Houston Mallette. Tennessee countered with Ament, Ja’Kobi Gillespie, Bishop Boswell, JP Estrella and Felix Okpara. The quintet gave UT a huge front court with two 6’11” players and one 6’10” tall.
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The Tide got off to a hot start and when Bediako entered the game and had a monster dunk and another basket at the rim, Bama led 14-8 with 14:50 left in the half. Wrightsell connected from downtown and followed with two free throws to give the Tide a 22-12 lead with 9:38 to play. Tennessee began to recover with accurate shooting and some Bama missed free throws. Philon and Bediako connected on some nice rolls to the basket for hoops, but the Vols continued to fight back. UT managed to cut the deficit to three at halftime, 39-36.
In the first half, Bama shot 15-29 for 52%, but only 2-7 from three-point range. The Volunteers huddled behind the arc and gave the Tide very few opportunities to let it fly from deep. Alabama went 7-10 at the charity stripe, but the three misses were all one-and-ones ahead. Bama totaled 18 rebounds, seven offensive rebounds, six assists, one block, four steals and committed three turnovers. Philon led the way with 11 points and six assists. Wrightsell had 11 points and made two steals. Bediako added eight points in his first college game since 2023.
Tennessee connected on 14 shots from 3o for 47%, 3-9 from deep and 5-6 at the charity stripe. The Volunteers grabbed 15 rebounds, six offensive rebounds, dished out six assists, had three steals and turned the ball over six times. Ament led the way with 11 points and Gillespie added 10 points and three assists.
Both teams used the same starters for the second half. Bama got off to its usual slow start and the Vols took the lead to 40-39 with 18:20 left. Tennessee held a small lead and the Tide continued to rebound for a while. Bol Bowen and Wrightsell scored three points and the game was tied at 50-50 with 13:45 to play. UT would take the lead and Bama would rebound to tie it, and regain the lead on an old-fashioned three-point play from Bediako at 62-60 with 9:55 to play. Mallette missed the start of a one-and-one, and Philon made one of two free throws to put Tennessee up 64-63 at 7:34.
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The Volunteers took a seven-point lead as Ament was uncontrollable and unstoppable. Bama continued to fight and a three-point play by Bol Bowen put the Tide within two at 70-68 with 5:44 on the clock. UT pushed the lead back to seven before Sherrell scored a three-pointer from the corner to give Bama some hope. Three straight long-range jumpers for the Tide went down and the Vols scored at the free throw line. Alabama had an opportunity with 46 seconds left and lost 77-73 after Tennessee turned the ball over but couldn’t capitalize. UT was able to buy some time and the Tide suffered its third home loss of the season.
In the second half, Bama shot just 10-29 with 4-19 three-pointers and made 10-14 free throws. Overall, the Tide finished 25-58 for 43%, a putrid 6-26 for 23% from deep and 17-24 for 71% from the line. Alabama totaled 33 rebounds, 10 offensively, nine assists, four blocks, seven steals and committed seven turnovers. Philon scored 26 points on 7-20 shooting and added seven assists and four rebounds. Wrightsell scored just three in the second half and finished with 14 points, Bediako scored 13 on 5-6 shooting and added three rebounds, two blocks and two steals. Bol Bowen contributed eight points and five rebounds. Sherrell was in trouble throughout the match and was ultimately disqualified. He was held to six points and four rebounds after a string of career-best games over the past two weeks. Mallette led the team with eight rebounds, but was needed on the offensive end, but was only able to total two points. Mallette, Bethea, London Jemison and Noah Williamson combined for six points. With Holloway and Allen averaging 29.4 points per game, the Tide needed something from this group.
Tennessee shot the exact same way from the field as in the first, 14-30 on field goals and 3-9 from deep. In total, the Vols made 17-25 free throws. UT dominated the second half and totaled 42 rebounds, including 14 offensively. The Volunteers handed out 11 assists, had seven steals, made three shots and committed 10 turnovers. Ament showed he was a likely lottery pick in the NBA draft, scoring 29 points with seven rebounds and three assists. Gillespie added 24 points, four assists, three rebounds and two steals. Bama had no answer for either of them.
The Tide needs to get healthy to try and make some noise until the end. Allen and Holloway were huge absences today, Holloway for his long range shooting and Allen for everything. The 6’8″ freshman would have been Bama’s best game for the 6’10” Ament and also leads Bama in rebounding, is the third leading scorer, third on the team in assists, second in steals and third in blocked shots per game. For the first time since Oats’ freshman year, the Tide have lost back-to-back home games and are off to a 3-3 start in the SEC for the first time since 2020. Bediako has shown he will be an important addition, awaiting Tuesday’s court date regarding his eligibility moving forward. The availability of Allen and Holloway is paramount to the team’s ability to stay afloat in the SEC.
Next up is another home game Tuesday at 8 p.m. CT against Missouri. The game will be broadcast on the SEC Network.
Rolling tide
