• Alabama basketball lost to Tennessee 79-76 after leading by four points with 30 seconds left in the game.
• A series of mistakes, including a missed inbound play, cost Alabama the game.
• Tennessee’s Jahmai Mashack hit the game-winning 3-pointer with less than 5 seconds remaining.

KNOXVILLE, Tenn. − Alabama basketball had the chance to beat Tennessee for the first time since 2021, and with 30 seconds left to play, the Crimson Tide blew it.

Alabama went ahead by four points with 36 seconds to go Saturday before a series of mistakes led to a 79-76 loss.

The rocking, raucous environment of Thompson-Boling Arena and a fight to be a No. 1 seed in the NCAA Tournament turned up the heat from tip-off. By the buzzer, a game-winning 3-pointer by senior Jahmai Mashack burned any hope Alabama (23-6, 12-4 SEC) had of sharing a regular-season SEC championship with Auburn.

With Alabama up 76-72 with 30 seconds remaining, Alabama senior Grant Nelson fouled Tennessee’s Chaz Lanier driving to the basket for a layup. Lanier’s basket but the margin to two points.

Lanier missed his free throw attempt and UA sophomore Jarin Stevenson picked up a foul to put Mashack on the line, where tied the game with two made foul shots.

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Alabama was set to have a chance at the winning shot with possession and 30.3 seconds on the clock. Labaron Philon was isolated one-on-one and began a drive to the basket with about 8 seconds remaining. Nelson moved out to set a pick but didn’t obstruct the defender, with Philon taking a wider angle to his left toward the lane.

That allowed Tennessee’s defense to collapse, and Philon was tied up as he tried to pivot to kick the ball out. The jump ball possession arrow favored Alabama, setting up an inbound play with 3.8 seconds left.

Alabama coach Nate Oats called a timeout to set up a play for what could have been the game-winning shot, Tennessee defenders smothered the inbound options, resulting in a 5-second call that gave Tennessee possession.

Oats took the blame for the late-game sequence, including taking out his big men, which allowed Tennessee to get the offensive rebound on the missed free throw, and not calling an available timeout that would have reset the 5-second count on another inbound attempt.

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Even if the ball had made it inbound, been deflected and Tennessee got possession, the Vols likely would have had no more than two seconds to get off a shot in a scramble situation.

“We didn’t do a great job closing it,” Oats said.

After limiting itself to just five turnovers in the first half, Alabama’s 12th turnover of the game led to Mashack having the ball in his hands to make the 30-foot game-winner.

Nelson got picked on the possession by UT’s Felix Okpara, freeing Mashack, and the nearest defender was late stepping out to try to defend the final shot. Starting center Clifford Omoruyi tried to use his 7-foot-6 wingspan to deflect the shot’s path to the basket, but Mashack had already released the ball and the Rutgers transfer switched too late.

On Friday before the game, Oats noted Nelson had to “get healthier,” and the forward seemed a little out of it again despite grabbing 12 rebounds. He finished with seven points, an assists, two blocks and four personal fouls.

“We do need Grant to be a little more aggressive and a little bit more efficient his minutes. His turnovers, some games, he’s been a little inconsistent with taking care of the ball, so he has to take care of ball a little bit better, too,” Oats said.

Emilee Smarr covers Alabama basketball and Crimson Tide athletics for the Tuscaloosa News. She can be reached via email at [email protected].