Vols continue dominant stretch with convincing win over Alabama

Tennessee continued its impressive stretch through the first half of SEC play with an emphatic win over previously conference unbeaten Alabama on Saturday.

Behind an offensive showcase and a dominating defensive effort, the No. 6 Vols had little trouble with the Crimson Tide inside Food City Center, picking up their third-straight league victory with a 91-69 decision.

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Dalton Knecht paced Tennessee (14-4, 4-1 SEC) with 25 points. It marked his fourth-straight game with 25-plus points. Jonas Aidoo scored 19 points and Jordan Gainey finished with 15 as the Vols shot 47.7% from the field and 33.3% from three-point range.

Zakai Zeigler totaled six assists and four steals.

Mark Sears led Alabama (12-6, 4-1) with 22 points. The Crimson Tide were held well under their season average of more than 90 points per game.

Santiago Vescovi opened the game with five early points as Tennessee led through the first four-plus minutes with additional scores from Zeigler and Aidoo to go up 10-7.

Knecht, who went scoreless in the first five minutes of the first half, scoring on back-to-back possessions out of the first media timeout to swell the Vols' advantage to 14-7 as Tennessee's defense, particularly from Jahmai Mashack, suffocated the Crimson Tide on the other end, forcing six turnovers in the first six minutes.

Mouhamed Dioubate ended a nearly three-minute scoring drought for Alabama, but Knecht answered with a 3-pointer to provided a 21-12 lead.

Another Tennessee scoring stretch was kick-started by Aidoo, who scored two-straight baskets that set the Vols up with a 12-point lead at 25-13 with less than 10 minutes to go in the half.

Tennessee steadily by double digits throughout much of the half, but a string fouls allowed Alabama to cut its deficit down to nine off of Rylan Griffen free throws before Knecht put the Vols back up 11 at 36-25 with a layup.

Knecht electrified the sold out crowd with a remarkable assist from freshman Freddie Dilione V, who after having the ball stripped away from him on the offensive end, following the play down the floor and grabbed it right back, leading a transition dunk for Knecht.

The sequence also opened the way for a dominating run from the Vols, leading to a 45-31 lead with less than four minutes to go in the half.

Gainey put the exclamation point on a 13-point half with his third 3-pointer with under two minutes remaining that helped Tennessee go into the intermission up 50-37.

Tennessee's dominance poured over into the second half.

Aidoo accounted for much of the scoring in the first couple of minutes and a step back 3-pointer from Zeigler that gave the Vols a 59-41 lead with just over 15 minutes left in regulation felt like a sign that any chance of a come back was growing slimmer for Alabama.

Even when the Crimson Tide started to get an offensive rhythm going behind Sears, it didn't seem to matter with Tennessee clapping back to add to its lead.

Mashack built off to a strong defensive performance in the first half with a steal that he dished to Knecht for a one-handed dunk with emphasis as the clock ticked inside of 12 minutes and upped the Vols' lead to 65-47.

Vescovi, who had a relatively quiet half offensively, drained a 3-pointer with five minutes left. Mashack added another from deep a few possessions later for a 84-59 Tennessee lead with four minutes left.

Tennessee led wire-to-wire, in part because of the defense the tone its defense set early.

Mashack didn't allow Alabama's guard much to work with on the perimeter and the result was a number of turnovers that led to points on the other end for the Vols, allowing them to build a lead.

The Crimson Tide turned the ball over an astounding six times in the first six minutes of the first half, most of which were forced on Mashack's side of the court and Alabama never recovered.

For the game, the Crimson Tide gave the ball away a season-high 22 times, including nine in the second half.

Tennessee scored 23 points off of turnovers.

With no midweek game, Tennessee will get the week off before going back on the road next Saturday.

The Vols play Vanderbilt at Memorial Gymnasium in Nashville. The Commodores, who play at Mississippi State on Saturday, are currently 5-12 overall, including four-straight losses to begin SEC play.

Vanderbilt won the last meeting against Tennessee at Memorial Gym, 66-65 on Tyrin Lawrence's game-winning 3-pointer at the buzzer.

Tip-off between the Vols and Commodores is slated for 6 p.m. ET on SEC Network.

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