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HomeSports#7 Tennessee Vols Basketball faces Wofford at Food City Center, Tuesday

#7 Tennessee Vols Basketball faces Wofford at Food City Center, Tuesday

#7 Tennessee (2-0) vs. Wofford (2-0)
Tuesday, November 14th, 2023 | 5:30pm CT/6:30pm ET
Knoxville, TN | Food City Center

Tennessee Volunteers - UT VolsKnoxville, TN – The seventh-ranked Tennessee basketball team returns home for a matchup with Wofford at Food City Center Tuesday night. Tipoff is set for 5:30pm CT. 

Fans can catch Tuesday’s game on SEC Network+. Michael Wottreng, (play-by-play) and Steve Hamer (analyst) will have the call.

The Vols registered an 80-70 road triumph over Wisconsin on Friday night, led by a game-high 24 points from fifth-year guard Dalton Knecht, giving him 1,000 in his DI career.

The victory gave Tennessee its first true road win over an active Big Ten school in program history. Knecht went on to earn SEC Player of the Week honors Monday, averaging 20.5 points, 4.0 rebounds, and 1.5 assists per game across a pair of UT wins last week.

The Matchup

Tennessee is 7-0 all-time against Wofford, with three of the meetings coming in the 1952-53 and 1953-54 seasons. The two have met just four times (February 1997, December 1997, November 2003, and November 2004) in nearly 70 years since then.

Coming off a 17-16 (8-10) campaign in 2022-23, the Terriers were picked eighth in the SoCon preseason poll.

Wofford’s leading returning scorer is junior guard Corey Tripp, who placed fourth with 8.8 ppg last year and is second this season with 15.5 ppg, trailing junior guard Dillon Brady’s team-best 16.0 ppg.

Wofford is one of four schools, two of which are DI institutions (both in the SoCon). The Volunteers are 7-0 or better against, alongside Lincoln Memorial (16-0), Emory & Henry (11-0) and Furman (11-0). They are also 6-0 against five other (four DI) programs: Appalachian State, Cumberland, Eastern Kentucky, USF, and Tennessee State.

Tennessee is 97-17 all-time against current members of the SoCon, while Rick Barnes owns a 23-1 record against such foes.

News and Notes

Josiah-Jordan James hails from the Palmetto State and grew up in Charleston, SC, approximately 200 miles southeast of Wofford in Spartanburg, SC.

Tennessee is on a 22-game non-conference home winning streak, dating back to the 2020-21 season opener (11/8/20), with victories over schools such as Arizona, Cincinnati, Colorado and Kansas during that stretch.

After his first week of action as a Volunteer, Dalton Knecht achieved a pair of milestones. First, with 41 points in his opening two outings at UT, Knecht reached exactly 1,000 in his DI career, which consists of just 69 games. Then, he claimed SEC Player of the Week plaudits for his performances against Tennessee Tech and Wisconsin, as he averaged 20.5 ppg on 53.8 percent shooting to go along with 4.0 rpg and 1.5 apg.

Tennessee’s victory at Wisconsin marked the first true road win over an active Big Ten team in school history.

Starting Strong

Through two exhibition games and two regular-season affairs, the Volunteers have led for 154:47 of a possible 160 minutes without trailing for even a single second.

With the victory over Wisconsin, Rick Barnes has now defeated 12 different national title-winning programs (34 total victories) in his nine seasons at Tennessee.

Santiago Vescovi, with 1,325 and 176 respectively, is 18 points, and one steal away from top-25 and top-five all-time in UT history.

Tennessee conceded just 12 first-half points in its 80-42 season- opening win over Tennessee Tech, good for the lowest total it has allowed in any half against a DI opponent since the turn of the century (2000-01).

At No. 7/8 in the national polls, the Volunteers have their highest rankings since placing No. 6/5 on 2/6/23.

UT guards Josiah-Jordan James (5-of-8) and Jordan Gainey (4-of- 8) are a combined 9-of-16 (56.3 percent) from deep through the first two games of the season.

Beating The Best

Under Rick Barnes‘ tutelage, Tennessee has defeated many of the most successful programs in college basketball history. The list includes 34 total victories over 12 national champions: Arizona, Arkansas (6x), Cincinnati, Duke, Florida (8x), Kansas (2x), Kentucky (10x), Louisville, Maryland, North Carolina, NC State, and Wisconsin, as well as two-time runner-up Gonzaga.

The Volunteers also own additional non-conference victories during Barnes’ tenure over schools such as Colorado, Georgia Tech, Iowa, Memphis, Purdue, Wake Forest, Washington, West Virginia and VCU

Poll Presence

Tennessee has played 169 games as a ranked team in the AP Poll under Rick Barnes, posting a stellar 126-43 (.746) record. Over 62.5 percent of the Volunteers’ games since Barnes arrived in 2015-16 have come with the team ranked in the AP Poll.

Furthermore, UT owns a 105-38 (.734) record while ranked in the top 20 during Barnes’ tenure, a 75-26 (.743) mark while in the top 15, a 58-16 (.784) ledger while in the top 10, a 25-7 (.781) tally while in the top five and a 17-2 (.895) record while in the top three.
 
The Vols are 21-17 (.553) in top-25 matchups under Barnes, including 16-10 (.615) with both teams in the top 20, 9-5 (.643) with both in the top 15, and 6-3 (.667) with both in the top 10.

The Preseason Pick

Tennessee placed first in the SEC preseason poll, as voted on by a select panel of both SEC and national media members.

This is the fifth time the Volunteers have been picked to win the league since polling began in 1989-90, with each nod coming since the turn of the century in advance of the 2000-01 season. UT’s five first- place selections during that time are more than the combined total of every other program in the league except for Kentucky, as Florida (twice) and Alabama (once) are the only schools that have taken the pole position besides the Vols and Wildcats.

The Volunteers have now been picked first in two of the last four seasons, as their prior such recognitions came in 2020-21, 2008-09, 2007-08 and 2000-01.

The complete SEC preseason poll can be found below:

1. Tennessee
2. Texas A&M
3. Arkansas
4. Kentucky
5. Alabama
6. Auburn
7. Mississippi State
8. Florida
9. Missouri
10. Ole Miss
11. Vanderbilt
12. Georgia
13. LSU
14. South Carolina

SEC Preseason Plaudits

Santiago Vescovi earned Preseason First Team All- SEC status, while Zakai Zeigler collected Preseason Second Team All-SEC recognition. Both earned the same designation before (and after) the 2022-23 campaign.

Tennessee was one of four schools with multiple Preseason All-SEC distinctions, joining Alabama, Arkansas, and Kentucky.

Vescovi is the fifth multiple-time Preseason First Team All-SEC designee in program history—polling began in 1989-90—alongside Allan Houston (thrice), Tony Harris (thrice), Chris Lofton and Tyler Smith.

Zeigler is the eighth Volunteer to pick up multiple Preseason All-SEC honors, a list that also features Jeronne Maymon and Jarnell Stokes.

Talented Trio

Three Volunteers were tabbed to Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame “Starting Five” Preseason Watch Lists.

Zakai Zeigler is one of 20 players on the Bob Cousy Point Guard of the Year Preseason Watch List.

Santiago Vescovi is among 20 individuals on the Jerry West Shooting Guard of the Year Preseason Watch List.

Dalton Knecht, before even playing a game at Tennessee, is one of the 20 selections for the Julius Erving Small Forward of the Year Watch List.

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