KNOXVILLE, Tenn. – Facing a nine-point deficit with under 10 minutes left and a four-point deficit in the final 31 seconds, the University of Tennessee men’s basketball team rallied to defeat sixth-ranked Alabama, 79-76, Saturday evening on a 35-footer at the horn by senior guard Jahmai Mashack.
Fifth-ranked Tennessee (24-5, 11-5 SEC) outscored the Crimson Tide by 13 in the last 10 minutes to win the first AP top-six clash on its home court in program history and the first AP top-six matchup ever between the two sides.
Fifth-year guard Chaz Lanier, who started the 7-0 run in the final 30.3 seconds, and senior guard Jordan Gainey had 18 points apiece to co-lead a quartet of double-digit scorers for the victors in front of the second-largest crowd (22,392) to watch a game at Food City Center at its current configuration.
The triumph moved head coach Rick Barnes into the top 10 on the all-time wins list (min. 10 years at Division I level) with his 830th victory. He also improved to 5-0 in AP top-10 home showdowns as the Tennessee head coach, as well as to 9-1 versus top-10 teams at home (with eight straight wins) and to 8-0 at home against AP top-six opponents.
The two sides went back and forth in the opening 15-plus minutes, with the Volunteers taking a 33-29 edge at the 4:47 mark on fifth-year guard Darlinstone Dubar’s second 3-pointer of the half. Alabama (23-6, 12-4 SEC) then countered with a 10-0 burst in 2:21 to go in front by six with 2:04 left in the session.
The Crimson Tide stretched the lead to seven with seven ticks to go, but Gainey countered with a three-point play, snapping a skid of eight straight missed field goals, in the final second to make it 42-38 at the intermission. Tennessee committed 12 fouls—10 came in the first 10:23—in the opening 20 minutes, with five players picking up two apiece.
Each team made four first-half 3-pointers, but Alabama needed just 10 attempts to Tennessee’s 14. Both also connected on eight free throws, with Tennessee doing it on 10 tries to Alabama’s 15.
Senior forward Igor Miličic Jr., opened the second-half scoring with a 3-pointer to trim the margin to one, but the Crimson Tide responded with an 8-2 run in 92 seconds to go back up by seven, 50-43, with 16:05 to go. They pushed it up to a game-best nine, 62-53, with 10:15 left, but the Volunteers countered with a 13-4 burst in 3:10, bookended by 3-pointers from senior guard Zakai Zeigler, to level the score at 66 with 6:49 to play.
Gainey gave Tennessee its first lead of the second half, 70-68, on a pair of free throws with 4:06 on the clock. Alabama scored the next five points, regaining the advantage, 73-70, with 2:05 left on a 3-pointer by graduate guard Mark Sears after the team missed 11 of its prior 12 field goals.
The Crimson Tide extended their advantage to four, 76-72, with 36.1 seconds left, but Tennessee dominated the rest of the contest. Lanier hit a runner just 5.8 seconds later and got fouled to go to the line. Although he missed the shot, Mashack drew a foul on the rebound and hit two free throws to level the score at 76 with 30.3 seconds remaining.
At the other end, Mashack forced a jump ball with 3.8 seconds to go and then the Volunteers drew a five-second violation on the inbound to get possession back. Zeigler then inbounded to Mashack, who dribbled up the floor, stopped and took a shot from about midway between the 3-point line and midcourt, shooting it over the outstretched arm of 6-foot-11 fifth-year center Clifford Omoruyi. He released it with 0.3 seconds to go, then watched it sail through the air and through the net, after which he was mobbed by his teammates in jubilation. It marked Tennessee’s first home buzzer-beater this century.
Lanier scored 12 of his 18 points on 5-of-7 shooting in the first 13 minutes, and Gainey split his 18 evenly between the frames. Zeigler scored 15 points, 13 of which came in a second half during which he was 4-of-8 from the floor and hit both his 3-pointers, as well as co-led all players with four assists.
Mashack tied a season high with 11 points, adding six rebounds, a team-best three steals and a co-game-high two blocks, the latter mark tying a career best. Junior forward Felix Okpara paced the team with nine rebounds and matched Mashack in the blocks category.
Sears paced all scorers with 24 points and co-led the game with four assists. Freshman guard Labaron Philon scored 13 points and he, too, posted four assists, plus notched a game-best five steals. Sophomore guard Aden Holloway had 11 points, while graduate forward Grant Nelson pulled down a game-high 12 rebounds, with Tennessee holding him to just seven points on 2-of-8 field-goal shooting.
Tennessee, which scored three points in the final second of each half, finished with better percentages in all three areas than Alabama, which has the third-rated offense in the nation by KenPom. The Volunteers shot 42.6 percent (26-of-61) from the field, 38.1 percent (8-of-21) beyond the arc and 73.1 percent (19-of-26) at the line. The Crimson Tide registered respective clips of 41.7 percent (25-of-60), 37.5 percent (9-of-24) and 65.4 percent (17-of-26).
In addition, the Volunteers limited Alabama to just three made field goals on final last 15 attempts of the contest.
Tennessee concludes its road slate Wednesday at 9 p.m. ET in Oxford, Miss., where it squares off with Ole Miss, live on ESPN2 from The Sandy and John Black Pavilion.
