Alabama vs Tennessee: 2022-23 college basketball game preview, TV schedule
By Joey Loose
A major SEC showdown pits Alabama against Tennessee; can the Volunteers get back on track with a major win or do the Crimson Tide defend their top ranking?
TV schedule: Wednesday, February 15, 7:00 pm ET. ESPN2
Arena: Thompson-Boling Arena in Knoxville, Tennessee
When you’re sitting at #1 in the country, things couldn’t be going much better for Alabama (22-3). The Crimson Tide is a perfect 12-0 in SEC play and has certainly been one of the best teams in the nation this season. Nate Oats’ fourth season at the helm seems to be even better than his earlier breakthroughs and the Crimson Tide have powered past their conference rivals on a regular basis.
We can’t effectively dissect Alabama without praising freshman forward Brandon Miller (18.8 ppg, 8.2 rpg), who’s likely heading toward a few national awards for his campaign. Junior guard Mark Sears (14.0 ppg, 3.8 rpg) has been a fantastic addition to this squad, joining the Crimson Tide from Ohio, and had a 26-point effort in their last road game against a ranked squad in a win at Arkansas last month. Plenty of talent fills out the rest of the rotation, including talented freshmen like Noah Clowney (9.8 ppg, 8.0 rpg) and Rylan Griffen (7.2 ppg, 2.9 rpg), whose 16-point effort led the way in a road win at Auburn this past weekend.
The Crimson Tide sit 2nd in both KenPom and the NET, ironically trailing a Houston team they beat on the road way back in December. Alabama excels on both sides of the ball, playing efficient defense despite their offense playing at such a high tempo. This defense doesn’t force a lot of turnovers, but they rarely allow good shooting numbers. Alabama was already a finely-tuned machine under Oats; adding the freshman of the year has only made them even more explosive.
On the home side, Tennessee (19-6) really needs something to go right for them. The Volunteers lost twice last week on buzzer-beaters, dropping a pair of games they absolutely should have won. Tennessee is still in fine shape in the metrics and conference standings, but getting a win over this kind of team would do wonders for their confidence and momentum.
This Volunteers lineup is full of talent up and down, starting with senior guard Santiago Vescovi (12.2 ppg, 4.3 rpg), who’s already been an important part of Rick Barnes’ system for years. Sophomore guard Zakai Zeigler (10.8 ppg, 5.4 apg) has great assist and steals numbers while senior forward Olivier Nkamhoua (10.7 ppg, 5.0 rpg) has shown ability on both sides of the ball. Another name to look out for is senior guard Tyreke Key (8.8 ppg, 2.8 rpg), a transfer from Indiana State who’s been the leading scorer in each of the last two games.
Now ranked just 10th in the AP Top 25 after a pair of losses last week, Tennessee is still at 5th in KenPom and 3rd in the NET rankings. The Volunteers are 1st in the nation in defensive efficiency but are coming off a poor effort on Saturday against Missouri. That version of the Volunteers can’t show up if they’re going to take down the top-ranked team in the nation; they’ll need the fierce defense that limited Kansas, Maryland, and Texas to get the job done.
If Alabama has their way, these teams are going to race up and down the court with offensive fireworks; though Tennessee would clearly before to play at a slower pace. Whoever controls the pace already has an edge, but don’t count the Crimson Tide out if this becomes a slow burn. The Crimson Tide have already won eight games on the road this season and the Volunteers have showed that they can blow games at home; but will Tennessee’s crowd play a factor on Wednesday night?
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Tennessee is not a desperate team, but they need this one pretty badly to get their season back on track. This was a potential top seed a few weeks ago, but three out of four losses have wrecked their momentum. If they can limit Miller and this powerful offense, then they can get this victory, but they’re going to need a lot more consistency out of their offense. With their backs against the wall, the Volunteers get it job in a classic.