Vols likely will be No. 1 after holding off Crimson Tide, 71-68

Tennessee guard Jordan Bone releases a shot over Alabama's defense in the second half of Saturday's game in Knoxville. Tennessee won 71-68.
Tennessee guard Jordan Bone releases a shot over Alabama's defense in the second half of Saturday's game in Knoxville. Tennessee won 71-68.
photo Tennessee guard Lamonte Turner goes up for a shot in Saturday's 71-68 SEC home win over Alabama.

KNOXVILLE - Tennessee's average margin of victory in Southeastern Conference men's basketball games went way down Saturday.

Yet the win total still crept up.

The third-ranked Volunteers forced a late turnover and Lamonte Turner made a pair of clutch free throws with 2.5 seconds to play as Tennessee held on to defeat Alabama 71-68 in front of a sellout crowd of 21,957 at Thompson-Boling Arena.

The Vols' 12th straight win - the program's longest such streak since 1977 - put them in position to be the No. 1 team in the country when the polls come out Monday, as second-ranked Michigan fell 64-54 at Wisconsin earlier in the day. Current No. 1 Duke, which lost in overtime early in the week, held on for a 72-70 victory over No. 4 Virginia, which was previously unbeaten.

Tennessee (16-1, 5-0) next plays at Vanderbilt on Wednesday.

The Vols shot 60 percent in a first half they ended with a 44-32 lead, but the Crimson Tide (11-6, 2-3) held them to 29 percent in the final 20 minutes to get back in it, halting Tennessee's streak of eight consecutive games of shooting at least 50 percent from the field.

Grant Williams led the Vols with 21 points. Jordan Bowden had 12, as did Admiral Schofield, who shot only 4-for-17 from the field.

Jordan Bone had 10 points and seven assists, while Kyle Alexander had six points, nine rebounds and a season-high five blocked shots.

Alabama was able to create a number of mismatches on offense, which led to driving lanes that turned into open looks from 3-point range. The Tide shot 42 percent from the field and 39 percent on 3s but were 8-for-18 on free throws, 4-for-13 in the second half.

Alabama's John Petty, who led all scorers with 30 points, had 20 in the second half on 7-of 11 shooting from the field and 5-of-7 from 3, but he didn't score in the final 9:52 of the game as the Vols put Bowden on him. Petty missed his final two shots, including what appeared to be a wide-open look with 1:22 to play that Williams partially blocked. The shot would have given Alabama a two-point lead.

"Honestly, I thought he was going to find a way to get that shot off in the corner, and I thought he was going to make it because he was hot all night," Williams said. "John is a really good shooter, especially when he is hot. I knew I had to close out hard on him. I didn't know I was going to get a piece of the ball. I was just trying to affect the shot."

photo Alabama guard John Petty, with ball, tries to maneuver around Tennessee guard Admiral Schofield in the second half of Saturday's game in Knoxville.

Instead, Tennessee regained possession and Williams scored on a putback after a Schofield shot was blocked.

"We went to what we call a no-catch defense, where that person really has no help responsibility and they just try to make them work to get open any way they can," Tennessee coach Rick Barnes said. "Avery (Johnson, Alabama's coach) did some good stuff trying to run John Petty off one or two screens.

"Jordan Bowden did a great job. Yves (Pons) does a good job initially, but in those actions sometimes he gets a little bit lost. At the start of the game we were in our system playing defense in the backcourt, and in the second half we let them bring the ball up the court on their terms and get set. We are a much better team when we are putting pressure on them in the backcourt."

Donta Hall was fouled on the next possession and hit a pair of free throws, and Williams fouled out attempting to drive on Hall with 12 seconds to play. But Petty traveled and Turner hit two free throws for the final margin.

The Vols had won their first four conference games by an average of 25 points. Saturday was trending in that direction as they built a 15-point lead late in the first half, but Alabama responded with a 16-0 run and took a brief lead. The Tide led 63-60 with 6:26 to play after a Hall putback, but Bowden hit a short jump shot in the lane and Schofield scored on a layup to put Tennessee up for good.

"The last two games we've had pretty big leads, but these guys were hanging with us late in the game," Bone said. "It was definitely a different feel, but it's a mindset that we have to have every game, no matter what the score is. That focus, that intensity that we had to shut a team down, no matter what the score or situation is, that's what we have to have every single game."

Hall had 16 points and 12 rebounds for Alabama, while Kira Lewis Jr. finished with 12 points but four turnovers.

Contact Gene Henley at ghenley@timesfreepress.com. Follow him on Twitter @genehenley3 or at Facebook.com/VolsUpdate.

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