Tennessee Makes Statement With Win Over No. 1 Alabama

The Volunteers handed the visiting Crimson Tide men’s basketball team its first SEC loss of the season.

KNOXVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — Zakai Zeigler and Santiago Vescovi each scored 15 points, and No. 10 Tennessee took down newly minted No. 1 Alabama 68–59 on Wednesday night.

Playing its first game as the top-ranked team since the 2002-03 season, the Crimson Tide (22–4, 12–1 SEC) led just once in the early going and committed 19 turnovers.

Unlike football, when Tennessee fans stormed their home field after beating No. 3 Alabama 52–49 in October, this sellout crowd stayed in the seats when it was over. “Rocky Top” loudly blared as the Volunteers (20–6, 9–5) ended a two-game skid.

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Alabama became the last Power 5 men’s team to lose a conference game this season. The Tide reached No. 1 in the latest poll by The Associated Press on Monday, but its only lead in this game came at 12–11.

Jonas Aidoo had 12 points and 11 rebounds for Tennessee.

Brandon Miller led Alabama with 15 points, Jaden Bradley added 14 and Nimari Burnett had 11.

Plavsic connected on a three-point play to give Tennessee a 56-47 lead with just over five minutes left in the game.

Vescovi tossed a lob that Olivier Nkamhoua caught in midair and followed with a slam to put Tennessee ahead 19–15 with 7:42 to play in the first half. It was tied at 29 at the break.