Tennessee @ Alabama preview
Bridgestone Arena
Last Meeting ( Jan 2, 2021 ) Alabama 71, Tennessee 63
It's been three decades since Alabama last won a Southeastern Conference men's basketball tournament championship.
For Tennessee, the drought is even longer with the Volunteers having not won it since 1979.
But one of them will reach Sunday's final, as they square off in an SEC semifinal Saturday afternoon in Nashville.
Tennessee has come closer in recent years and is trying to reach its third consecutive SEC tournament final when taking on the top-seeded Crimson Tide. Alabama hasn't even been to an SEC final since 2002.
The nation's No. 6 team, Alabama (22-6) cruised to its most lopsided win of the season Friday -- an 85-48 rout of Mississippi State. It was Alabama's fourth consecutive win and fourth this season by 30 or more points as the Tide used a 21-1 first-half blitz to chase the Bulldogs out of the tournament.
"There was a lot of questions about us coming out in these early games," Alabama guard John Petty Jr. said. "Previously we didn't really do too good. But I feel like our guys did a great job getting up this morning, getting real locked in, and it showed out there on the court."
The fourth-seeded Volunteers' 78-66 victory over Florida was more tightly-contested and took a physical toll as Tennessee will be without senior forward John Fulkerson against Alabama.
Fulkerson took a forearm shot to the face followed by a second elbow to the head from Gators forward Omar Payne with 17:10 left in the second half. Payne was called for a flagrant-2 foul and ejected from the game. Fulkerson walked slowly off the court with members of the team's medical staff.
Tennessee coach Rick Barnes said after the game that Fulkerson was taken to a nearby hospital to check his eye.
"He took pretty two good licks right there, and I would be surprised if he plays," Barnes said.
Tennessee withstood a stellar performance from Gators guard Tre Mann, who scored 28 of his 30 points in the second half in the second meeting in six days between the longtime rivals.
Yves Pons broke a school record with nine blocks, and nearly missed a triple-double with 11 points and eight rebounds.
Pons tied the SEC tournament single-game record for blocks set by Kentucky's Andre Riddick in the 1993 championship game. Pons said the team was motivated by the incident involving Payne and Fulkerson.
"Elbowing John in the face was a dirty play," Pons said. "It had nothing to do with basketball."
The Crimson Tide beat the Volunteers, 71-63, in Knoxville in their only meeting this season back on Jan. 2.
On Friday, Alabama overwhelmed Mississippi State with a defense that contributed to 18 MSU turnovers and held the Bulldogs to only one made three-pointer in 19 attempts, and that came after the Tide had built a 33-point lead.
"Defensively, I thought we were really locked in for a good part of that game," Alabama coach Nate Oats said.
The Crimson Tide committed only nine turnovers and finished with 20 assists.
Jahvon Quinerly's 14 points led an outstanding performance by Alabama's reserves, who outscored Mississippi State's bench 47-5.
Alabama could be without one of its key players as well Saturday. Starting guard Josh Primo exited Friday's game with a left knee injury and was later taken to Vanderbilt University Medical Center for further observation.
--Field Level Media