Crimson Red Sports

The Alabama men's basketball team will play a road game for the first time in 10 days when it travels to Knoxville, Tenn., to square off against the Tennessee Volunteers on Saturday afternoon. The contest, which will be televised on ESPN2, is slated for a 2 p.m. ET (1 p.m. CT) tipoff at Thompson-Boling Arena.

“Obviously we just played Tennessee two weeks ago that came down to the wire, [we were] fortunate to win the game,” UA head coach Anthony Grant said. “Just watching them on film, you look at their record and I don’t think it really tells the story about their team. I think in just about every game that they’ve played in the SEC outside of their first game against Ole Miss, really a possession or two different and they could be 4-1. The thing for me that we have to understand is we are dealing with a team that is, for lack of a better cliché, probably a wounded animal. We’re walking in their building right now with their backs against the wall. The understanding that our guys have to have this upcoming game, is that we have to really lock in and understand what we have to do to go in there and have a chance to be successful.”

The two teams last met two weeks ago on Jan. 12 in Tuscaloosa, with Alabama capturing a narrow 68-65 decision over the Volunteers. Sophomore guard Trevor Lacey and junior guard Trevor Releford led the Crimson Tide with 15 points apiece. Sophomore guard Levi Randolph had 12 points to add to his team high six rebounds, while senior guard Andrew Steele added a season-high 11 points off the bench.

That contest featured 11 ties and 10 lead changes in the back-and-forth affair. Trailing 55-52 with 4:53 remaining, the UA defense created some offense, forcing the Volunteers into three-straight turnovers which jump-started a 10-0 run. The Tide was able to hold on for its first league win of the year.

We need a good start to the game and not allow the Vols to have a big first half lead like the last two games. This is a road game and making a big comeback is harder away from home.

Rebounding will be important. The Vols beat us on the boards in the first game.

One concern I have is CAG said the team has not practiced well since the UK win.

Roll Tide.

Good start. Bama up 8-3 at 1st time out.

Bama is playing Zone defense. So far it is working.

Cooper hits a 3, but verdict still out as to whether passing him the ball is a waste of time.

Stokes (UTk big guy) gets another.  >:(

Bama 25-19 to start the 2nd half. UTk with slight  edge on the boards so far. :popcorn2:

CAG seems hesitant to have both Gueye and Jacobs on the floor at the same time-- particularly during one of our shooting lulls. But I'd sit Cooper.

Releford hits a clutch 3. Bama down 1--18.5 remains.

Bama ball 11.8--- RELEFORD (JMHO).

:( The best team did not win. 2 blown calls in last 15 secs beats the Tide.  >:(

Yeah, refs missed some calls. 

Worse, I think, is that with 11 seconds and the ball, Bama never takes a shot.  What was that?  Lacey tried to draw the foul at the end, which should have been called but wasn't, but Bama should have been driving towards the basket or setting up a shot sooner than they did.  CAG let that one get away.

I only caught the last 6 minutes of the game, but it looked to me like Bama was mugged early and often with no calls. The last 15 seconds of the game was a travesty!

CAG let that one get away.

We have a good schedule the rest of the way. The only games we will not be favored to win are the away games at Florida and Ole Miss. We could win our next 9 games. I think we have a good chance at going 12-6 or better in SEC play.

01/31/13 vs. Arkansas
02/02/13 at Vanderbilt
02/06/13 at Auburn
02/09/13 vs. LSU 
02/12/13 at Georgia 
02/16/13 vs. South Carolina
02/20/13 vs. Mississippi State 
02/23/13 at LSU
02/26/13 vs. Auburn
03/02/13 at Florida 
03/05/13 at Ole Miss
03/09/13 vs. Georgia   

I was pretty rough on CAG after the Mercer and Tulane loses. We lost another game yesterday that we should have won. However, we are playing better and improving as the season goes along.

CAG can coach and recruit guards. He needs to get some big guys that are upper tier SEC players and we will be all right. We have two guys signed for next year that are both 4 star post players rated in ESPN Top 100. They can not get here fast enough for me. I am tired of getting beat on the boards every game.

Could this loss have been because of the hangover from Kentucky? I think there would be some tiredness, but I didn't get to see the game. I do hope we get better and make the NCAA Tourney, I am tired of the NIT. RTR!

I don't think that there was a KY hangover.  Bama played well in the first half, for most of the game, but TN was allowed to manhandle Bama players in the last few minutes, and the ball bounced their way down the stretch.

We can blame it on a Kentucky hangover or we can blame it on the officials but if we hit our free throws down the stretch we win. We shot 42% from the line and missed several front ends of one & one.

We can blame it on a Kentucky hangover or we can blame it on the officials but if we hit our free throws down the stretch we win. We shot 42% from the line and missed several front ends of one & one.

^^^THIS^^^

Releford missed the front of a key 1 + 1 late in the game if I remember correctly.  He is about an 85% free throw shooter.  If he hits both of those we win.  We were terrible from the line in that game.

This game should never have been within a point or two in the first place. Cold nights at the foul line happen. They balance out the extremely hot nights at the foul line. But getting outrebounded two-to-one points to a more serious, season killing issue.