Labaron Philon Jr. gave Alabama its lone lead of the contest by sinking a jumper with 22.8 seconds remaining as the No. 17 Crimson Tide recovered from a 13-point, second-half deficit to post a 71-69 victory over No. 22 Tennessee on Saturday night in Southeastern Conference play at Knoxville, Tenn.
Philon scored 15 of his 23 points in the second half as Alabama (22-7, 12-4 SEC) extended its winning streak to eight games. Latrell Wrightsell Jr. scored 14 of his team-high 25 points in the second half for the Crimson Tide.
Aden Holloway added 12 points as Alabama halted a five-game slide against Tennessee.
Ja’Kobi Gillespie had 26 points, seven assists and matched his own school record of eight steals for the Volunteers (20-9, 10-6), who lost their second straight game. J.P. Estrella added 12 points and Jaylen Carey contributed 10 points and nine rebounds.
Tennessee’s Nate Ament was limited to two points in 11 minutes after injuring his right leg in the first half. Ament scored 29 points when the Volunteers defeated the Crimson Tide last month.
With the score tied at 69, Philon drove in and eluded the bigger Estrella and made a 10-foot turnaround jumper in the lane to give Alabama its first lead.
Gillespie attempted to tie the game with a driving shot, but it bounced off the rim with about three seconds left. Players from both teams swatted at the ball and it eventually went toward the baseline as the clock expired.
Alabama shot 44.6% from the field, including 10 of 27 from 3-point range.
The Volunteers made 38.5% of their attempts and were 4 of 18 from behind the arc.
Tennessee used an 11-2 run in the second half to push their lead to 55-42. Estrella’s layup capped the burst as Tennessee took a game-high 13-point lead with 12:16 remaining.
Alabama scored 19 of the next 27 points and used Philon’s three-point play and Wrightsell’s trey to pull within 63-61 with 4:35 left.
A short time later, Philon’s personal 6-0 burst allowed the Crimson Tide to knot the score at 67 with 2:32 to play.
Estrella’s baseline jumper put Tennessee back ahead with 2:06 left. Holloway tied it with a jumper with 1:11 remaining.
Gillespie scored 15 first-half points to help Tennessee take a 40-28 lead into the break. Wrightsell had 11 in the half for the Crimson Tide.
Tennessee was leading 20-16 with 7:42 left in the half when Ament went down, injured during a scramble for a ball. He returned at the outset of the second half before leaving again with 17:53 to play.
