FINAL @Tennessee 59 Bama 54

[jbcarol]

https://twitter.com/GrantRamey/status/837833294221819904

Only one box needed to be checked off when Rick Barnes went to the transfer market in search of a forward to add to his second Tennessee basketball team.

"We said this from the beginning," Barnes said on Friday, "if he can help us win one game, it would be worth taking a fifth-year guy."

Lew Evans, the only fifth-year transfer Barnes has signed in his 30 years as a head coach, was worth it.

"He's done more than that," Barnes said.

Evans was already a well-traveled college basketball player before he ever heard from Barnes.

A Salt Lake City, Utah, native, he started at a prep school in New Hampshire, then a community college in Wyoming. Then there was a year at Tulsa, then two years at Utah State, after coaching changes at both schools kept him on the move.

Evans was exactly what Tennessee was looking for, too. He brought needed size, listed at 6-foot-7, and needed experience, joining a freshman-dominated roster, one that had just one other senior on roster.

"He's come in and he really got himself in position with the players, his teammates, where they really enjoyed him, loved what he was about," Barnes said.  "He came in and, in the one year he's been here, he's helped us."

[jbcarol]

 @GrantRamey‏Verified account @GrantRamey 18h18 hours ago

Not sure how it happened, but Tennessee rallies from 16 down to beat Alabama, 59-54 http://tennessee.247sports.com/Article/Tennessee-Vols-basketball-rallies-past-Alabama-in-the-second-hal-51600448 ...

Tennessee snapped out of its funk in the second half on Saturday. The team that had lost six of eight games was easy to forget. The one that played its way into the NCAA tournament bubble conversation a month ago was easy to remember.

The Vols trailed visiting Alabama by as many as 16 points early in the second half, but stormed back to win 59-54 in front of 14,652 at Thompson-Boling Arena.

Freshman forward Grant Williams led Tennessee (16-15, 8-10 SEC) with 16 points and fifth-year senior Lew Evans scored 15 on Senior Day.

@GrantRamey‏Verified account @GrantRamey 17h17 hours ago

Grant Williams set a Tennessee record with 60 blocked shots as a freshman.

Rick Barnes: "Also set a record for getting his shots blocked."

Rick Barnes was asked about Grant Williams' season. "I'm still disappointed in him." media snickers "I really am."

Barnes on Grant Williams: I'm still disappointed. He could be so much tougher, more mature. He should have been SEC Freshman of the Year.

Rick Barnes: "(Grant Williams) will get better because I'm going to kill him. I probably shouldn't use that term."