The first top-six basketball showdown in Alabama-Tennessee series history will take place Saturday afternoon when the No. 5 Volunteers host the No. 6 Crimson Tide.
It’s so big that Dick Vitale will be there.
The Vols and Crimson Tide have assembled 23-5 overall records but through very different routes. Tennessee leads the Southeastern Conference in fewest points allowed per game (60.8), defensive field-goal percentage (37.3%) and defensive 3-point goal percentage (27.6%), while Alabama tops the league with its per-game averages for points (91.5), 3-point tries (30.3) and made 3-pointers (10.6).
“Both teams have competed at such a high level both ways,” Tennessee coach Rick Barnes said Friday afternoon in a news conference. “I think they’re a better defensive team this year, and I’m really impressed with their offensive rebounding. We know Nate Oats has done a tremendous job with implementing his style and implementing what he wants to get done, and his guys are buying into their roles.
“I’m just impressed with the consistency they’ve played with these last couple of years. They know what they’re looking for.”
Alabama, which earned its first trip to the NCAA Final Four last season, enters Knoxville with a 12-3 league record, while the Vols are 10-5. The Tide attained that 12th league triumph with Tuesday night’s 111-73 humiliation of Mississippi State in Tuscaloosa, when they connected on 22 of 45 attempts (48.9%) from 3-point range.
“They play a really fast pace,” Vols senior point guard Zakai Zeigler said Friday. “You might be up 15 on Alabama, but that’s more like a five-point game.”
Alabama holds an 82-73 series advantage over Tennessee, but the Vols have won the past three meetings by at least seven points.
ESPN’s broadcast will begin at 4, and Vitale is scheduled to work his first contest inside the Food City Center since Jan. 28, 2023, when the No. 4 Vols topped No. 10 Texas 82-71 in the Big 12/SEC Challenge. Barnes said he spoke Thursday to the 85-year-old Vitale, who revealed last June that he had lymph node cancer before announcing in December he was cancer-free.
“He’s just so authentic,” Barnes said. “He talked about just how tough it’s been when you’ve had to fight the different cancers he’s had to fight. He has such a deep passion to want to do this, and I don’t think it’s as easy as people might think. I know he’s grateful and extremely blessed.
“We’ve obviously talked about our faith with each other, and he knows there have been a lot of people who have prayed for him through the years. I love him to death.”
The matchup of Zeigler and Alabama fifth-year senior guard Mark Sears should be intriguing, with Sears averaging 19.0 points and 5.0 assists per game. Sears has not been as accurate this season, shooting 35.7% from 3-point range after connecting last season on a robust 43.6% clip.
Zeigler, who averages 13.6 points a game and ranks fourth nationally with 7.3 assists per contest, is hoping to get the better of another SEC veteran guard after the Vols topped Wade Taylor IV and Texas A&M 77-69 last Saturday in College Station.
These kind of pairings do have a way of getting Zeigler even more excited than normal.
“I guess you could say that,” Zeigler said. “It’s definitely fun playing against some of the better guards, not just in the SEC but in the country. He doesn’t really have a conscience. He knows he’s a good shooter.
“He might miss a couple of shots, but if you leave him open, it’s going in.”
Odds and ends
Tennessee has announced an “orange out” for Saturday. … The Vols are 4-0 at home under Barnes in showdowns between teams ranked among the top 10 in the Associated Press poll, having won all four by at least nine points. … In the past four seasons, Tennessee leads the nation with 27 wins over AP Top 25 teams, with UConn (25), Kansas (25) and Auburn (24) next in line. … Barnes spent the 1985-86 season as a Tide assistant under Wimp Sanderson before leaving for an assistant role at Ohio State. He was replaced in Tuscaloosa by Gregg Polinsky, who spent nine seasons at Alabama before becoming Georgia Southern’s coach (1995-99) and is now in his fourth season as a Vols assistant.
Contact David Paschall at dpaschall@timesfreepress.com.