Zakai Zeigler collected 15 points and eight assists to fuel No. 10 Tennessee to a 68-59 home victory over top-ranked Alabama on Wednesday in Knoxville, Tenn.
Santiago Vescovi joined Zeigler in making three 3-pointers and finished with 15 points and eight rebounds to help the Volunteers (20-6, 9-4 Southeastern Conference) bounce back from a pair of one-point losses.
Jonas Aidoo recorded 12 points, 11 rebounds and three blocks for Tennessee, which totaled 11 steals and forced the Crimson Tide (22-4, 12-1) into 19 turnovers.
Alabama’s Brandon Miller collected 15 points and 10 rebounds and Jaden Bradley added 14 points. Nimari Burnett had 11 points off the bench for the Crimson Tide, who saw their four-game winning streak come to a halt following just their second loss in the last 15 games.
Alabama’s point total represented a season low. The Crimson Tide mustered just 65 points in a 10-point victory over South Alabama on Nov. 15.
With the game tied at 40-40, Aidoo highlighted a 16-7 run by sinking a short jumper and emphatically blocking a shot from Noah Clowney. He added an offensive rebound and putback before Uros Plavsic converted a three-point play.
Alabama trimmed its deficit to four points at 58-54 before Aidoo corralled an offensive rebound and made a putback. Zeigler followed with a driving layup and a steal on the Crimson Tide’s ensuing possession.
Jahvon Quinerly sank a 3-pointer to cut Tennessee’s lead to 62-57 with 59 seconds to play. Zeigler, however, sank a free throw and Vescovi stole the ball on the next possession before making two more shots from the charity stripe.
Zeigler drained a 3-pointer and Plavsic made a pair of buckets on the interior to push Tennessee’s lead to 26-18. Charles Bediako ended that surge with an emphatic dunk, igniting Alabama’s 11-3 run to forge a tie at halftime.
–Field Level Media
