Alabama basketball lost composure, handed Tennessee Vols all they needed for upset | Goodbread
KNOXVILLE, Tenn. — Jahvon Quinerly hunched over, hands on knees, head down.
Under a minute remained in Alabama basketball's 68-59 loss to Tennessee on Wednesday night, and the Crimson Tide senior had just committed his sixth and final turnover. The Volunteers celebrated after a clock stoppage, with the outcome all but clinched on the change of possession, and freshman Brandon Miller walked over to Quinerly with some encouragement.
Quinerly had scored 19 against the Vols in an SEC Tournament win in 2021, 18 points in a win over Tennessee last season.
But this wasn't his night. Nor was it Alabama's.
Effort wasn't a problem. Composure was.
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For the last six weeks, the Crimson Tide (22-4, 12-1 SEC) appeared to have broken up with its turnover problem. Valentine's Day, it would seem, reunited the mismatched pair. That's how it appeared Wednesday night anyway, as Tennessee, with the No.1 defensive efficiency ranking in the nation, forced 19 turnovers while Alabama's defense came up with only eight of its own. It was the first thing UA coach Nate Oats mentioned in his opening remarks after the game. Tennessee outscored Alabama 26-2 off turnovers, an advantage that Oats described as the game's most telling stat.
Quinerly was the face of the problem with six turnovers in only 17 minutes. At his best, the senior can see the floor and deliver assists as well as anyone on the team. At his worst, his ball security can be careless.
"Jahvon's been good against these guys in the past. I was hoping he'd get it going," Oats said. "His shooting percentage and turnovers were a little uncharacteristic tonight, but he didn't handle the pressure as well as we'd like."
Quinerly, however, was by no means at fault alone. Freshman Jaden Bradley, who drew praise from Oats for having Alabama's only positive assist-to-turnover ratio, dribbled a ball off his leg and out of bounds for UA's 17th turnover with 2:37 remaining and Tennessee ahead 60-54. Every Alabama player who logged 10 minutes or more committed at least one turnover. UA coughed the ball up 12 times in the first half alone, and appeared to have largely solved the issue for most of the second half until a spate of giveaways in the final few minutes helped the Volunteers seal the win.
When Alabama wasn't giving the ball away, its half-court offense looked uncharacteristically disjointed for much of the night. Its body language didn't project much poise either, particularly after a couple of borderline block-charge calls didn't go Alabama's way in the second half.
Credit Tennessee's stifling defense, which fed off a raucous crowd, with holding an explosive Alabama offense to its lowest point total of the season. And turnovers were what made it happen.
That's been a recurring theme in the few games Alabama has dropped this season. In losses to UConn, Gonzaga, Oklahoma and now Tennessee, the Crimson Tide has committed 74 of them for an average of 18.5 per loss.
It might be just about the only thing that can beat this incredibly talented team.
But it can get Alabama beaten on any night.
Reach Chase Goodbread at cgoodbread@gannett.com. Follow on Twitter @chasegoodbread.
This article originally appeared on The Tuscaloosa News: Alabama basketball loses composure, hands Tennessee Vols an upset
