TUSCALOOSA, Ala. — Bruce Pearl knew what Alabama was thinking as it watched the tape of the second half of Tennessee's basketball game with Auburn last Wednesday:

"Hey, we can score on those guys,'' said Pearl, the first-year UT coach, putting words in Alabama's mouth.

The Crimson Tide took up in the first half Saturday where Auburn left off Wednesday, shredding Tennessee's half-court defense like it was the scout team.

Alabama's red-hot shooting set in motion a 92-79 victory that brought the Vols' month-long joyride to an end.

No. 8-ranked UT (19-4, 10-2 SEC) had won eight consecutive games since losing at Memphis exactly one month ago.

If there were a silver lining for the Vols it was that Florida lost at Arkansas earlier in the day. That means Tennessee goes to Gainesville on Wednesday still holding a two-game lead over the Gators (22-4, 8-4) in the SEC East race.

"We can't allow teams to score 90 points on us,'' said UT senior Stanley Asumnu. "It's hard to beat teams like that.''

At halftime, Alabama was on pace to score 114.

With both teams wearing "Throwback Week" uniforms from the 1970s, the Tide used a 14-0 run to turn a 23-21 deficit into an eventual 57-41 lead at the break.

In doing so, they converted 19 of 25 shots for a ridiculous 76 percent.

"At the beginning of the game, they really put it to us,'' said UT guard Chris Lofton. "That really cost us.

"We can't do that at Florida, or they'll do the same thing.''

Alabama's outburst came on the heels of lowly Auburn scoring 64 points on 66.7 percent shooting in the second half of a 105-89 loss to the Vols three days earlier.

"I don't think anybody is scared of our half-court defense,'' said Pearl.

Alabama (15-9, 8-4) cooled off to 34.5 percent shooting in the second half but the damage was done. A sold-out Coleman Coliseum crowd of 15,194 never had to sweat as the lead fluctuated between 19 and 11 points.

The closest UT got was 84-73 with 2:01 left on Lofton's sixth 3-point bucket.

The Tide closed out its seventh consecutive victory over the Vols with 6-of-6 free-throw shooting and a late basket by Jean Felix.

Even if the Tide hadn't been scorching the nets from the field, its free-throw prowess would have done the trick. Alabama hit 28 of 30 at the free-throw line, compared to UT's 11 of 19.

"We knew they couldn't keep shooting the ball the whole game as well as they did in the first half,'' said UT guard JaJuan Smith.

"But when they stopped shooting the ball real well, they were still doing things to keep the lead where it was.''

Alabama's offense was an equal-opportunity abuser. Center Jermareo Davidson had 17 points and 14 rebounds. Forward Richard Hendrix also had a double-double with 16 points and 10 boards.

"They manhandled us,'' said Pearl.

Point guard Ronald Steele scored 22 points and dished out nine assists for the Tide.

Alabama has a short bench but it produced. Alonzo Gee scored 14 points and Felix 12.

"To score 92 points with this group is a heckuva feat,'' said Alabama coach Mark Gottfried. "It all starts with Ron.''

Lofton led Tennessee with 22 points. He continued his torrid long-distance marksmanship with 6-of-8 3-point shooting. Andre Patterson added 15 for the Vols, C.J. Watson 13 and Smith 11.

The Vols had only 10 assists and were outrebounded 40-31.

They forced 19 Alabama turnovers and got the fast tempo they wanted, but this time it wasn't a recipe for victory.

"It's very difficult to go on the road and rely on your press,'' said Pearl. "It was good, but it had to be really good.

"If we could have been in range, the runs could have gotten us close.

"We were never close.''

"Holding" Lofton: For the first time this season, Pearl was vocal about the defensive attention Lofton is seeing game in and game out.

"If you put a camera on him, you'd see every time down the floor he'd be held,'' said Pearl.

"They hold him the whole time. With both hands. It's really hard to get open. That's an issue we need to look at.''

Lofton was 7-of-15 from the field. He hit six of eight 3-point tries. In his past four games, Lofton has hit 29 of 41 behind the arc.

Notebook: UT matched Alabama's hot shooting early, converting 10 of its first 13 shots. Then the Vols went 6:44 without a field goal. Patterson got his 15th point with 16:43 to play but was shut out the rest of the way. The 92 points was the most the Vols have allowed this year, topping the 89 by Auburn and Oklahoma State. Spotty free-throw shooting (11-of-19) held UT to 79 points, keeping their record perfect (14-0) when they score at least 80.

Mike Strange may be reached at 865-342-6276.