After collapsing at the end of the game against Arkansas on Saturday, Alabama men’s basketball needed a home win against Tennessee on Tuesday night to come one step closer to the quasi-18-win threshold for the NCAA Tournament.

A win over the Vols would have boosted the Crimson Tide’s resume, especially with games at Georgia and No. 11 Auburn and at home against No. 18 LSU looming,

But it was more of the same against Tennessee, as Alabama blew a 15-point first half lead to lose 69-68 in its second game without junior forward Herbert Jones.

“It’s some of the same issues we have been having,” coach Nate Oats said. “I can’t put my finger on it. I don’t have an answer. The leadership to get us ready to play has been great… but I don’t have an answer for why we haven’t sustained the effort.”

The Crimson Tide’s largest lead of the night came after a technical foul free throw to extend its lead to 15 with just under two minutes remaining in the first half. But Tennessee did not let up, cutting the halftime deficit to 8 as part of a 13-1 run.

Tennessee shot only 36.7% from the field in the second half but outshot Alabama from the free-throw line 21-2, which allowed the Vols to come away with the victory.

It was the third time in four games that Alabama has seen a double-digit lead cut to within 1 point or result in a loss.

Tuesday’s game was also the third time in four games that Alabama, the 11th-ranked rebounding team in the country, has been out-rebounded by its opponent, including 42-33 against Tennessee.

While once was against LSU who is ranked 20th in rebounding, the other two instances came against Kansas State and Tennessee, which are ranked 298th and 202nd, respectively.

“We gotta find a way to get a rebound,” Oats said. “I don’t have an answer. A couple of those we had two hands on it and somehow didn’t come up with it.”

Coming into Tuesday’s game, Tennessee only forced 12.95 turnovers per game (220th in the country) but was successful against the Crimson Tide by forcing 20, including 12 in the first half.

Junior forward Alex Reese recorded a season-high five turnovers, while sophomore guard Kira Lewis Jr. turned the ball over five times, resulting in his second consecutive game with five or more turnovers.

“Some of them are just mind-boggling to me,” Oats said. “… Playing fast, you maybe have more turnovers, but we played this fast at Buffalo for a long time and we were top 10, top 25 in turnover percentage.”

On a team where post depth is already an issue, junior forwards Reese and Galin Smith and redshirt freshman forward Javian Davis had four fouls with 9:16 remaining and eventually all had fouled out with 1:57 left in the game.

Alabama’s 26 fouls turned into 32 free throws for the Volunteers, who made 23 of them. Meanwhile, Alabama shot only eight free throws on 14 Tennessee fouls.

“We, as a coaching staff, really have to do a better job trying to get these guys to play without fouling,” Oats said. “Free throws are the most efficient shot in the game, highest points per possession shot in the game. We gave them 32 and we only got eight. It’s a recipe for losing games.”

Lewis led Alabama with 19 points on 8-of-15 shooting and freshman guard Jaden Shackelford was the only other double-digit scorer who had 12.

Alabama will embark on a two-game road trip and will begin it by playing Georgia in Athens on Saturday at 5 p.m. The Crimson Tide has won just two of its past seven meetings against the Bulldogs.