The semifinal of the SEC tournament has long been a stumbling block for Alabama basketball. Heading into Saturday, the Crimson Tide had dropped its last five semifinal appearances, last reaching the conference tournament title game in 2002.
For much of Saturday’s semifinal against Tennessee, No. 6 Alabama appeared as though it would suffer a familiar fate. However, this year’s Tide once again found a way to break through past plateaus.
Despite trailing by as many as 15 points in the second half, Alabama bounced back to exorcise its demons and down Tennessee 73-68 to earn a spot in Sunday’s title game. The top-seeded Tide (23-6) will now look to claim its first SEC tournament title since 1991 on Sunday at noon CT against No. 3 seed LSU.
“It would mean a lot,” Alabama senior Hebert Jones said of the chance to win a first tournament title in 30 years. “That was part of the reason why I came to school here, to try to turn [Alabama] into a basketball school. I think we’re doing that right now. We’ve just got to show up ad bring the energy we brought in the second half for 40 minutes tomorrow.”
After digging itself into a seemingly insurmountable deficit, Alabama used a 14-0 second-half run to get itself back into the game. The comeback bid was spurred on Jones, who scored a career-high 21 points to go with 13 rebounds. The SEC player of the year recorded 15 of those points after the break.
Alabama guard Keon Ellis drained a 3 from the top of the arc to put the Tide up 64-61 with 4:02 remaining. Alabama wouldn’t give up its lead from there, holding on for one of its more memorable wins of the season.
Clinging to a 69-68 lead with 25 seconds remaining, Alabama sent Tennessee guard Davonte Gaines to the free-throw line with a chance to take the lead. However, he missed both foul shots. After Alabama secured the ensuing rebound, Jahvon Quinerly hit two free throws on the other end to extend the Tide’s lead 71-68 with 15.5 left to play.
Tennessee guard Victor Bailey Jr. then missed a contested 3 before Ellis put the game away with two free throws on the other end.
“At halftime, we decided to just come out and play our brand of basketball,” Jones said. “I don’t think we did that in the first half. I think that’s what the 14-0 run was. We came out and competed on the defensive end, and that led to our offensive end.”
Added Quinerly: It’s big time. A lot of teams would have folded in that situation, and it just goes to show you what type of guys we have on our team and what type of leaders we have.”
Ellis, who scored all seven of his points after the break, made the start in place of Joshua Primo after the freshman guard suffered an MCL sprain on his left knee during Friday’s win over Mississippi State. Following the game, Alabama head coach Nate Oats said Primo is day-to-day but should be able to return at some point this season.
“I know he got a lot of work in this morning. He’s going to get a lot more in this afternoon,” Oats said. “We’ll see where it takes him. I mean if he’s not good enough, we won’t play him tomorrow. We’ll try to get him back for the NCAA tournament at some point.
“But it’s not something where he’s going to be out where he requires surgery or anything like that. He should be back playing this year whether it’s tomorrow, next weekend, Sweet 16 weekend at some point. Hopefully, we get him back here soon.”
Tennessee was also without a starter as forward John Fulkerson suffered a concussion and facial fracture while taking an elbow from Florida’s Omar Payne on Friday.
Along with Ellis, Quinerly also played a big role in filling in during Primo’s absence. The Tide’s sixth man recorded 19 points on 8 of 13 shooting to mark his 11th straight game in double-figure scoring.
After getting off to a dream start in Friday’s 85-48 victory over Mississippi State, Alabama had a reversal of fortunes against Tennessee. The Tide opened the game cold from beyond the arc and coupled that with careless control of the ball. After committing just nine turnovers against Mississippi State on Friday, Alabama surpassed that total by the 4:15 mark in the first half against Tennessee as it went into the break trailing 40-31. The Volunteers would extend that advantage to 48-33 with 16:56 remaining before the Tide came storming back.
Alabama won despite shooting 37 percent from the floor, including just 7 of 28 from beyond the arc. The Tide also committed 17 turnovers which led to 21 Tennessee points.
Fortunately for Alabama, its defense, which entered the day ranked No. 1 in the nation in the KenPom.com ratings, came to play. The Tide forced 19 turnovers, marking its fourth straight game with at least 18 takeaways. Alabama also held a 42-37 advantage on the boards while its bench outscored Tennessee’s 31-8.
