Alabama Basketball's Key to Defeating the Tennessee Volunteers

The Crimson Tide's chances at earning a top-five win at home on Saturday comes down to one thing, protecting the basketball.

The No. 14 Alabama Crimson Tide basketball team is thrust into center stage of the college basketball world on Saturday night as the program plays host to College GameDay for the first time with the opportunity to knock off the No. 4 Tennessee Volunteers. 

The game will go a long way toward determining the SEC regular season champion as there are only three games remaining and Alabama and Tennessee are currently tied for the league lead.  

Nate Oats and the Crimson Tide enter the game as a 2.5-point favorite, but were defeated by 20 points in their last game against the Volunteers on January 20. The key aspect in that January road defeat becomes the key to victory on Saturday, can the Alabama offense protect the basketball and not make things more difficult on its already subpar defense?

Alabama committed 22 turnovers in Thompson-Boling Arena, leading to 23 Volunteer points. The Crimson Tide's leader, Mark Sears, unfortunately led the team with seven turnovers, but he wasn't alone as Rylan Griffen committed six while Aaron Estrada had a pair to sum up the backcourts dismal day. 

The Crimson Tide turned the ball over 13.3 times per game in SEC road games this year with 22 at Tennessee, 15 at Auburn and 16 at Kentucky standing out as the worst efforts.

Alabama's been slightly better at protecting the basketball at home in conference play, averaging 12.1 giveaways per contest. 

While the Alabama Crimson Tide has a chance to make a national statement with a top-five victory on national tv, Mark Sears has an opportunity to establish himself with the masses as one of the best players in college basketball this season. 

Tennessee's Dalton Knecht is the current favorite for SEC Player of the Year but a strong performance by Sears, highlighted by protecting the basketball, could crack that competition wide open once more. 

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