Tennessee has sole possession of first place in the Southeastern Conference entering the final week of regular-season play.
Alabama missed 17 of its last 20 field goal attempts in the contest.
Zakai Zeigler totaled 18 points, including 13 after halftime. He was one of four Tennessee players to score 10-plus points in the contest. Zeigler also recorded four assists, one block and one steal.
Dalton Knecht totaled 13 points and five rebounds, while Jonas Aidoo had 12 points, seven rebounds and two blocks for the Vols.
Josiah-Jordan James also recorded 11 points, 13 rebounds and three assists.
Alabama’s Mark Sears led all scorers with 22 points. He also finished with six assists.
How to watch Alabama take on Tennessee in the marque SEC matchup!
The marque matchup of the college basketball weekend will take place in Tuscaloosa when [autotag]Nate Oats[/autotag] and the Alabama Crimson Tide host Rick Barnes and the Tennessee Volunteers inside Coleman Coliseum on Saturday night.
With the Tide and Vols tied atop the SEC standings, Saturday’s contest could go a long way in deciding who is crowned as the regular season conference champion.
ESPN’s College Gameday will be inside Coleman Coliseum on Saturday morning to help build the anticipation for the rivalry matchup.
Below is all the information you need for Saturday’s matchup between Alabama and Tennessee, including the broadcast guide, injury report, and projected starting lineups.
Two weeks ago, after the Aggies defeated then No. 6 Tennessee, it looked like they would be the team to beat moving forward. Man, how times have changed during that period, with A&M going 0-4 and the Vols going 4-0.
The offense for Texas A&M has become predictable, and teams now smother the high pick, not allowing the guards to drive and forcing them to take jump shots. As a result, we have seen a dramatic drop off in the shooting percentage, back to where they were about a month ago.
There is not a lot of time left on the clock, and in most situations, a team with an almost .500 overall record combined with a below .500 conference record in the NCAA tournament would be out the window. However, with six Quad 1 wins under their belt, they still have a puncher’s chance at making the dance if they can pull off a few wins late. Coach Buzz Williams knows they must return to the drawing board to salvage the season.
“We have work ahead of us. We have to figure out how to turn this. It has been a long two weeks.”
Below, you can watch the full post-game presser with Coach Buzz.
Texas A&M will host No. 20 South Carolina at Reed Arena on February 28 at 6:30 p.m. CT.
Contact/Follow us @AggiesWire on Twitter, and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Texas A&M news, notes, and opinions. Follow Jarrett Johnson on Twitter: @whosnextsports1.
Social media reacts to Texas A&M losing by over 30 points to No. 6 Tennessee on Saturday night
Texas A&M (15-12, 6-8 SEC) was blown out on the road to No. 5 Tennessee Volunteers (21-6, 11-3 SEC), with the Vols getting their revenge from two weeks ago.
I’m at a loss for words, but I shouldn’t be based on the last two weeks. Defenses have figured out the Aggie offense and have been turning A&M into a jump-shooting team. In the first game against Tennessee, the Aggies out-rebounded the Vols and consistently got to the basket. Saturday was a completely different story.
Tennessee was not playing around and jumped on the Aggies early and often. After the first 16 minutes of the game, the Vols broke the game wide open when things were still somewhat close. A&M was never able to recover and got beat down, losing by 35 points, the worst in Buzz Williams’ coaching career.
The fan base and media contributors are exhausted from the current Aggies basketball team as they get blown out by another Top 25 team, and they flocked to social to share their reactions throughout the game.
No. 5 Tennessee (21-6, 11-3 SEC) defeated Texas A&M (15-12, 6-8 SEC), 86-51, Saturday at Food City Center.
The Vols led, 37-27, at halftime.
It was Tennessee head coach Rick Barnes’ 800th career victory as a head coach. The win also avenged an earlier loss to the Aggies this season. Barnes is the 15th coach in NCAA Division I history to win 800 games.
Dalton Knecht totaled 24 points and seven rebounds for the Vols, while Jonas Aidoo posted another solid performance, recording a double-double as he had 18 points and 14 rebounds.
Tobe Awaka finished with 12 points and six rebounds. Zakai Zeigler recorded nine points, 14 assists, nine rebounds and four steals, while not committing a turnover.
Wade Taylor IV and Tyrece Radford each scored 11 points to lead the Aggies.
Texas A&M gets run off the court in an embarrassing blowout loss to No. 6 Tennessee
Texas A&M (15-12, 6-8 SEC) gets blown out on the road to No. 5 Tennessee Volunteers (21-6, 11-3 SEC), with the Vols getting their revenge from two weeks ago.
Tennessee started off much better this time around, jumping out to an 11-3 lead in the first five minutes of the game. Wade Taylor, not wanting the game to get out of hand early, hit three straight shots from beyond the arc for all nine of the Aggie’s points early. A&M tightened and forced multiple offensive fouls to pull the game into a 15-15 tie. The shooting struggles continued to linger from the previous two games, sitting at 33% halfway through the first half.
Texas A&M went ice-cold for the rest of the half after keeping it tight most of the time. Tyrece Radford had another rough day in the office, scoring only three points in the first 20 minutes. The same went for Wade Taylor; after scoring the first nine points early, he was scoreless the rest of the half. Jace Carter led all scorers with ten points, but the team as a whole dropped to 27% shooting overall and 21% from three going into halftime down 37-27.
Randy Sartin-USA TODAY Sports
Tennessee got off to a quick start again, hitting back-to-back three-points, followed by a massive dunk after a missed Aggie three-pointer, extending their lead to 47-32 just a few minutes into the second half. Things went from bad to worse as the Aggies continued to miss shots while Zakai Ziger found teammates at will to go up 59-39 midway through the half.
The energy was sucked out of the Maroon & White, nothing would fall, and eventually, A&M’s once consistent defense started getting picked apart. Up by 30 points, the Vols started pulling starters and continued to improve their resume with an 86-51 blowout win.
NOTE: Aggies shot 27.3% overall, 20.6% from three, and 53.3% from the free throw.
Below are the Aggies critical contributors from the game:
Wade Taylor IV: 11 points / 5 assists
Tyrece Radford: 11 points / 4 rebounds
Jace Carter: 10 points / 6 rebounds
Tennessee’s top contributors:
Dalton Knecht: 24 points / 7 rebounds
Zakai Zeigler: 9 points / 14 assist
Jonas Aidoo: 18 points / 14 rebounds
Texas A&M will host No. 20 South Carolina at Reed Arena on February 28 at 6:30 p.m. CT.
Contact/Follow us @AggiesWire on Twitter, and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Texas A&M news, notes, and opinions. Follow Jarrett Johnson on Twitter: @whosnextsports1.
Texas A&M is hoping to sweep No. 5 Tennessee while hanging on to NCAA tournament hopes
Texas A&M (15-11, 6-7 SEC) will be in Knoxville to face No. 5th-ranked Tennessee Volunteers (20-6, 10-3 SEC) Saturday at 7 p.m. CT.
It’s crunch time in Aggieland with five games left in the regular season. Now is the perfect time for A&M to get another Quad 1 win on their resume and move back to .500 in conference play. The Aggies are a good ball club but just have been on the wrong side of too many close games. A win over the Vols could be a shot in the arm they need to make a run leading up to March Madness.
Tennessee could lose the rest of their games and still make the tournament, and a loss against A&M wouldn’t be that bad. However, the Vols are on a mission to improve their seeding and will look to avoid the season sweep by beating a struggling Texas A&M squad. Revenge may not be the motivation but it sure is in the back of everyone’s mind in Thompson-Boling Arena Saturday night.
Tennessee comes from behind at Missouri to earn 20th win of the season.
No. 5 Tennessee (20-6, 10-3 SEC) defeated Missouri (8-18, 0-13 SEC), 72-67, Tuesday at Mizzou Arena in Columbia, Missouri.
The Tigers led, 29-26, at halftime.
Tobe Awaka and Dalton Knecht each posted a double-double for the Vols. They were two of four Tennessee players to score 10-plus points in the contest.
Awaka totaled 18 points and 10 rebounds, while Knecht recorded 17 points and 10 rebounds. Knecht scored 15 points in the second half for the Vols.
Tennessee’s bench players outscored the Tigers’ reserves, 26-3.
Jonas Aidoo, the reigning SEC Player of the Week, recorded 14 points, four rebounds, four blocks and two assists, while Zakai Zeigler finished with 10 points and three assists for Tennessee.
Missouri’s Sean East II led all scorers with 24 points, while Noah Carter added 20.
Five Tennessee players score 10-plus points against Vanderbilt.
No. 9 Tennessee (19-6, 9-3 SEC) defeated Vanderbilt (7-18, 2-10 SEC), 88-53, Saturday at Food City Center.
The Vols led, 51-20, at halftime.
Dalton Knecht and Zakai Zeigler scored 14 points each for the Vols. Five Tennessee players scored 10-plus points against the Commodores. The Vols also scored 24 bench points.
Knecht totaled five assists and four rebounds, while Zeigler recorded five assists and two steals.
Josiah-Jordan James recorded 13 points, seven rebounds, three steals and two assists for Tennessee.
Santiago Vescovi totaled 12 points and five assists for the Vols, while Jonas Aidoo recorded 11 points, eight rebounds and three blocks.
Ven-Allen Lubin led the Commodores with 10 points. He also totaled six rebounds.
After two relatively stress free wins last week, Duke remains at No. 9 in latest AP Poll.
After winning both of their games last week in an attempt to bounce back from the loss to their Tobacco Road rivals, Jon Scheyer’s Duke Blue Devils remained at No. 9 in the latest AP Poll released Monday afternoon.
Duke dispatched Notre Dame at home 71-53 to complete a season sweep of the Fighting Irish. They followed up with an 80-65 home win over a Boston College team led by All-ACC big man Quinten Post.
As the calendar inches closer and closer to March, Duke is trying to round itself into form and begin playing their best basketball at the right time.
At the top of the AP Poll, Connecticut and Purdue serve as the two best teams in the nation, respectively. UNC‘s home loss to Clemson for just the second time ever cost them their spot at No. 3. That now goes to the Houston Cougars, who moved up since Kansas lost against their in-state rivals, the Kansas State Wildcats on the road.
Marquette and Arizona are your fourth- and fifth-ranked teams as both saw themselves rise three spots from last week’s poll.
Kansas is now sixth, while Hubert Davis’ team is now seventh. All-American candidate Dalton Knecht and the Tennessee Volunteers are now eight after Texas A&M drilled them on Saturday evening.
T. J. Otzelberger and the Iowa State Cyclones round out the top 10, giving the Big 12 three schools in the top 10.
Tony Bennett and the Virginia Cavaliers join the Blue Devils and Tarheels as the only ACC teams represented in the top 25.
Duke, Virginia, and UNC are in a tense battle for ACC supremacy, with the Tar Heels holding onto a one-game lead over UVA and a 1.5-game lead over Duke. UVA and UNC are set to play each other toward the end of February, while Duke is set to host both Virginia and UNC in March as their final two home games to close out this ACC regular season.
