It was an important game for Tennessee to stay alive in the SEC race, and the Vols answered the call.
Jarnell Stokes had 15 points and 18 rebounds to the lead the Vols to a 54-53 win over Alabama.
“I played good,” Stokes said. “It is very hard at Tennessee right now, just as far as the ways we have lost, we gave up a lot of games. A lot of calls didn’t go our way. We went into every game expecting to win.”
But the play to be remembered was his last-second stop of Trevor Lacey in the final seconds.
“Coach (Martin) definitely called it,” Stokes said. “He knew exactly what play they were going to run. They ran it two times and he scored both times. I just want to thank Coach for giving me confidence to switch on that.”
Cuonzo Martin gave credit to the rowdy crowd of 18,791 for helping his team in the second half.
“Tremendous crowd,” Martin said. “I thought they did a good job really staying after it. Very impressive. I think that’s one of the things that got us over the hump. I think that speaks volumes about (UT) fans, fans across the state.”
That didn’t stop the Tide early, who shot 50 percent in the first half.
Trevor Releford’s 7-of-11 afternoon was critical, and his 3-of-3 shooting from beyond the arc stopped multiple UT runs at taking the lead.
Down the stretch, the combination of Jordan McRae’s outside shooting and the inside presence of Stokes was enough to not only bring the Vols back, but also pull the upset.
McRae’s three-pointer cut Alabama’s lead to 46-42 with 5:48 remaining, then the junior hit a fadeaway jump shot at the top of the key, giving the Vols a lead at 52-50 with under a minute to play.
“He’s a good player,” Alabama head coach Anthony Grant said of McRae. “He’s an awfully good scorer for them. We knew that he was going to be aggressive in the first half, I think he was 1-6 in the first half and came out very aggressive in the second half and did a good job for his team.”
Tennessee came out playing fast-paced basketball, but Alabama was able to slow down the Vols and force them to take contested shots, allowing the Tide’s fast-break offense to take control in the first half. It didn’t help matters that the Vols’ 3-point shooting was cold in the first half; UT was 0-of-5 to start the game. Once UT was able to slow the game down and send the ball in to McRae and Stokes, momentum shifted the other way. Tennessee outscored the Tide 17-5 in second-chance points and dominated the paint 36-24.
“I wanted to be more aggressive going towards the boards,” Stokes said. “If I didn’t get the ball I was going to have to steal and make my impact on the board. I think that is something I haven’t been doing this year, as far as making an impact on the board.”
Both coaching staff’s participated in the NABC Coaches vs. Cancer Suits and Sneakers.
Martin was diagnosed with non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma in 1997, but was able to battle through the disease.
“I try not to think about it, but it’s something you just have to deal with,” Martin said.
