Spear and No. 15 Tennessee host No. 18 Alabama

By Canadian Press on February 20, 2025.

Alabama Crimson Tide (21-5, 8-4 SEC) at Tennessee Volunteers (19-6, 6-6 SEC)

Knoxville, Tennessee; Thursday, 6:30 p.m. EST

BOTTOM LINE: No. 15 Tennessee faces No. 18 Alabama after Jewel Spear scored 28 points in Tennessee’s 80-71 victory over the Ole Miss Rebels.

The Volunteers have gone 12-3 in home games. Tennessee is second in college basketball with 15.5 offensive rebounds per game led by Lazaria Spearman averaging 2.8 offensive boards.

The Crimson Tide are 8-4 in conference play. Alabama is 0-1 in games decided by 3 points or fewer.

Tennessee averages 10.6 made 3-pointers per game, 5.6 more made shots than the 5.0 per game Alabama gives up. Alabama has shot at a 47.2% rate from the field this season, 3.5 percentage points greater than the 43.7% shooting opponents of Tennessee have averaged.

The Volunteers and Crimson Tide face off Thursday for the first time in SEC play this season.

TOP PERFORMERS: Talaysia Cooper is averaging 17 points, 5.9 rebounds, 3.4 assists and 3.2 steals for the Volunteers. Ruby Whitehorn is averaging 13.2 points over the last 10 games.

Sarah Ashlee Barker is shooting 52.1% and averaging 17.0 points for the Crimson Tide. Aaliyah Nye is averaging 14.0 points over the last 10 games.

LAST 10 GAMES: Volunteers: 6-4, averaging 80.0 points, 35.5 rebounds, 14.0 assists, 8.4 steals and 3.1 blocks per game while shooting 44.1% from the field. Their opponents have averaged 71.8 points per game.

Crimson Tide: 6-4, averaging 72.0 points, 31.6 rebounds, 14.1 assists, 6.2 steals and 4.5 blocks per game while shooting 47.0% from the field. Their opponents have averaged 66.3 points.

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The Associated Press created this story using technology provided by Data Skrive and data from Sportradar.

The Associated Press