University of Tennessee Athletics
HOOPS CENTRAL: Vols at Alabama
January 25, 2016 | Men's Basketball
KNOXVILLE, Tenn. -- Coming off an upset victory over No. 24 South Carolina last week, Tennessee hits the road for a tough SEC matchup with Alabama on Tuesday night. The Vols and Crimson Tide tip-off at 9 p.m. ET on the SEC Network.
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Gameday Time & Broadcast Info
- Opponent: Alabama Crimson Tide
- Date: Tuesday, Jan. 26
- Tipoff: 9 p.m. ET
- Venue: Coleman Coliseum (Tuscaloosa, Ala.)
- TV: SEC Network
- Radio: Vol Network
- Online: Live Audio , Live Stats
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Tennessee (10-9, 3-4 SEC)
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Alabama (10-8, 1-5 SEC)
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The Vols (10-9, 2-3 SEC) got a career-high 36 points from senior guard Kevin Punter Jr. -- 27 of which came in the second half -- and combined to knock down 30-of-32 free throws en route to a 78-69 win over the Gamecocks at Thompson-Boling Arena. The win gave head coach Rick Barnes his first win over a ranked opponent while at the helm of the Big Orange and provided his team some momentum as it prepares to enter a venue that has not proven particularly friendly to the Vols in the past.
Tennessee is just 18-43 all-time against Alabama (10-8, 1-5 SEC) in Tuscaloosa, including a 4-6 mark over its last 10 trips to Coleman Coliseum. This year's edition of the Tide are 6-2 at home with their only losses coming in SEC play to Kentucky and LSU. Alabama took the Tigers took the wire on Saturday, falling in the final seconds when LSU's Tim Quarterback scored the winning bucket with 33.7 seconds remaining. That defeat gave Bama its third consecutive defeat as it fell to 1-5 in the SEC. The Crimson Tide are 10-8 overall in their first season under head coach Avery Johnson, having put together a strong run in non-conference play with wins over Wichita State, Notre Dame, Clemson, and Winthrop all before the New Year.
"You go back and look, they probably did as much for our league in (non-conference play) as anybody," said Tennessee head coach Rick Barnes. "They had great wins over some top-25 teams. They might have more wins over ranked opponents than anybody in the league. They've lost some tough games. They do a really good job with their offensive scheme. They spread you out. They do a great job of driving and pulling your defense, and kicking out. That's a team that can make 10, 12, 14 threes if they get going."
Alabama is led by Retin Obasohan's 14.8 points per game. Obasohan finished with a team-high 20 points against LSU on Saturday, going 7-of-14 from the field and 3-of-3 from beyond the arc. Arthur Edwards, averaging 10.1 ppg this year, had 17 points against the Tigers.
Tennessee will be looking for continued production from Punter and fellow senior Armani Moore. Punter ranks seventh in the country in scoring at 23.3 ppg and has tallied 13 20-plus-point efforts this season. Moore has seen his scoring average dip to 12.0 ppg, but he continues to be a key contributor in other areas. As of Monday, Moore ranks among the SEC leaders in rebounding (10th, 7.3 rpg), assists (7th, 4.5 apg), steals (4th, 1.8 spg), blocked shots (7th, 1.7 bpg), and offensive rebounds (9th, 2.8 orpg). He finished with four assists and a career-high five steals in the win over South Carolina on Saturday.
Tuesday's game is one of two road games on tap this week for Tennessee, which travels to face TCU as part of the Big 12/SEC Challenge on Saturday. That game, the final non-conference tilt for the Vols this season, tips off at 2 p.m. ET from Ft. Worth and will be televised by ESPN2.
ABOUT ALABAMA
- Alabama is 10-8 (1-5 SEC) in its first season under head coach Avery Johnson.
- Johnson led the San Antonio Spurs to the 1999 NBA title as a player. And in 2005-06, he guided the Dallas Mavericks to their first-ever appearance in the NBA Finals en route to earning NBA Coach of the Year honors.
- Johnson played collegiately at Southern University.
- Bama's field-goal percentage defense ranks 42nd nationally, as the Tide hold opponents to .398 shooting.
- In SEC games, the Tide make 8.8 3-pointers per game--second-most among league teams.
- Alabama's Riley Norris (.434) and Arthur Edwards (.446) both rank among the top 10 in the SEC in 3-point shooting percentage in league games.
- The team's top scorer, senior Retin Obasohan, ranks eighth in the conference with 17.5 ppg in SEC games.
- Sophomore guard Justin Coleman ranks second in the nation with a .917 free-throw percentage.
LAST MEETING WITH ALABAMA
- Tennessee saw its five-game winning streak come to an end on Jan. 10, 2015, as the Vols dropped a 56-38 game to Alabama =at Thompson-Boling Arena.
- The Crimson Tide finished the game on a 21-2 run over the final 12:34.
- With the game tied at 36, Alabama's Rodney Cooper connected on a pair of buckets to a give Alabama a 41-36 lead with eight minutes left in the game. The Tide's run expanded to 18-0 and gave them a 51-36 lead with less than a minute to go in the game.
- Tennessee's Josh Richardson led the Vols in scoring for the 10th time in 14 games with 17 points.
- Tennessee was held scoreless for a span of 13:02 and without a field goal for 14:07, missing 15 shots in a row. Following a jumper by Derek Reese with 14:44 left in the second half, Tennessee did not make a field goal until 37 seconds were left in the game when Armani Moore put home a rebound.
- Early in the second half, Richardson single-handedly put the Vols in front after they trailed for nearly the entire game to that point. The senior scored the Vols' first eight points of the half as Tennessee took a 32-30 lead with 16:50 left in the game.
- Tennessee had its lowest offensive output since losing 46-38 at Virginia on Dec. 5, 2012.
MEMORABLE VOL PERFORMANCES AGAINST ALABAMA
- Tennessee closed its 2014-15 regular-season with a 60-49 loss to South Carolina March 7, 2015, at Thompson-Boling Arena.
- It was senior day for three Vols, as Josh Richardson, Galen Campbell and Brandon Lopez were honored before the game. Richardson played his 134rd career game and his final contest at Thompson-Boling Arena, scoring 14 points, grabbing six rebounds, handing out six assists and coming away with four steals.
- Robert Hubbs III also scored 14 points in the loss.
- The Gamecocks victory ended Tennessee's 15-game win streak in the series, which dated to 2007.
- Michael Carrera led the way for the Gamecocks with 14 points and a game-high seven rebounds. Three other Gamecocks scored in double-figures: Duane Notice (12), Sindarius Thornwell (10) and Tyrone Johnson (10).
- South Carolina's defense flummoxed the Vols all day, as Tennessee shot 35.6 percent from the floor, making just seven 2-point field goals.
- South Carolina used a 21-4 run midway through the first half to take a lead it would never relinquish.
- South Carolina's zone defense held the Vols to just seven made field goals in the first half as no Vol scored more than five points in the first 20 minutes.
- Tennessee wore its orange road uniforms.
MEMORABLE VOL PERFORMANCES AGAINST SOUTH CAROLINA
- Bill Hann dished an incredible school-record 19 assists against the Tide on Jan. 6, 1968, leading UT to an 82-63 win in Tuscaloosa.
- Grand Junction, Tenn., native Steve Hamer posted a memorable 31-point, 21-rebound performance against the Tide in the 1996 SEC Tournament in New Orleans. The Vols won 77-65.
- The legendary Bernard King recorded 37 points and 18 rebounds against Alabama on Jan. 31, 1975, as ninth-ranked Tennessee downed No. 11 Alabama 80-74 in Knoxville.
- Dyron Nix holds UT's single-game scoring record against Alabama, as he dropped 38 points on the Tide on March 2, 1988, in Knoxville.
VOLS' A.D. HOOPED AT BAMA
- Tennessee Vice Chancellor/Director of Athletics Dave Hart played basketball at Alabama for head coach C.M. Newton from 1969-70 before graduating in 1971.
- Hart met his wife, Pam, while at Alabama. She is a 1970 graduate.
- Hart earned his master's degree from Alabama in 1972 while working as a graduate assistant basketball coach there.
- Prior to his hiring at UT, Hart worked as Executive Director of Athletics at Alabama from Aug. 2008-Sept. 2011.
BARNES WAS A BAMA ASSISTANT
- Rick Barnes spent the 1985-86 season as an assistant coach at Alabama under Wimp Sanderson. It was Barnes' first taste of "major" college basketball.
- The Crimson Tide went 24-9 (13-5 SEC) that year and finished third in the conference. Bama earned a No. 5 seed in the NCAA Tournament and defeated Xavier and Illinois before falling to Southeast No. 1 seed Kentucky in the Sweet Sixteen.
- That Alabama team featured 15-year NBA veteran Derrick McKey, onetime Alabama head coach and current NC State head coach Mark Gottfried, five-year NBA veteran Jim Farmer and seven-year NBA veteran Buck Johnson (team's top scorer).
- After Barnes' lone season in Tuscaloosa, he moved on to Ohio State to work as an assistant coach under Gary Williams.
VOLS' S.O.S. SIXTH NATIONALLY
- Through the games of Jan. 25, ESPN's Basketball Power Index (BPI) rated Tennessee's strength-of-schedule as the sixth-toughest in the nation.
- UT is one of six SEC teams with a top-20 SOS.
CHARITY STRIPE HOT STREAK
- After an incredible 30-for-32 showing at the foul line during Saturday's win over South Carolina, Tennessee now ranks 35th in the country with a .739 team free-throw percentage.
- In SEC play, the Vols are shooting a red-hot .815 at the free-throw line. That easily leads all SEC teams. Five Vols are shooting better than 80 percent at the line during SEC play.
- Senior point guard Kevin Punter Jr. was 14-of-15 at the line against the Gamecocks and is 27-of-28 at the stripe over UT's last three games.
SUITS & SNEAKERS
- Tennessee owns a 10-3 record in Coaches vs. Cancer "Suits and Sneakers" games, dating to the NABC/American Cancer Society initiative's launch in February 2004.
- The Vols are 6-2 at home and 4-1 on the road when the coaching staff breaks out its fresh kicks.
- The Coaches vs. Cancer mission is to increase cancer awareness and promote healthy living among students, faculty, school staff, fans and the community at large, through year-round awareness efforts, fundraising activities, and advocacy programs.
- This year's Suits and Sneakers Awareness Week runs Jan. 25-31. Tennessee's staff will wear sneakers for games at Alabama and TCU.
PUNTER SEVENTH IN NCAA IN SCORING, ONE OF UT'S TOP-SCORING PGs
- Vols senior Kevin Punter Jr. ranks second in the SEC and seventh in the country with 23.3 points per game.
- Among all-time Tennessee point guards, Punter stands beside the most prolific scorers of the bunch. His 23.3 ppg stand as the second-best season scoring average among all-time UT point guards, trailing only the 23.7 ppg that the legendary Allan Houston averaged while handling PG duties as a freshman in 1990-91.
