#13 Tennessee (7-1) at Syracuse (4-3)
Tuesday, December 2nd, 2025 | 6:00pm CT / 7:00pm ET
Syracuse, NY | JMA Wireless Dome
Syracuse, NY – The No. 13 Tennessee men’s basketball team (7-1) is set to continue the 2025-26 slate at JMA Wireless Dome Tuesday as they face the Syracuse Orange (4-3) as part of the ACC/SEC Challenge.
Fans can watch Tuesday’s game on ESPN+ and stream on the ESPN App. Wes Durham (play-by-play) and Dennis Scott (color) will have the call.
Fans state-wide can tune in to their local Vol Network radio affiliate to hear Voice of the Vols Mike Keith and analyst John Wilkerson depict the action.
The Matchup
After starting 1-3 in its series with Syracuse, Tennessee is 4-0 this cenutry with the wins by 15.0 ppg.
After not playing since 1/19/02, this is now the third straight year the sides are meeting, all at different locations. The Volunteers claimed a 73-56 win on 11/20/23 in Honolulu and a 96-70 triumph on 12/3/24 in Knoxville.
From 1990-94, with Rick Barnes the head coach at Providence and Adrian Autry a player at Syracuse, they faced off eight times. The Orange posted a 5-3 record.
Tennessee is 126-101 all-time against current ACC schools and has defeated all but one of them, Notre Dame (0-1), at least once.
Rick Barnes is 85-77 versus the current ACC membership. He is 15-5 in his Tennessee tenure, including 8-1 over the past four seasons (2021-25).
After going 14-19 (7-13) last year, Syracuse placed ninth in the 2025-26 ACC preseason poll.
Sophomore forward Donnie Freeman, who missed the last three games due to injury, paces the Orange with 17.8 ppg.
News and Notes
Rick Barnes has 187 victories over NCAA title-winning programs in his career, 47 of which are during his tenure at Tennessee.
Tennessee’s Bishop Boswell and Syracuse’s Sadiq White Jr., played together for two years at Myers Park High School in Charlotte, N.C. Together, they won the 4A state title in 2022-23.
The Volunteers and Orange play in two of the three largest oncampus arenas in the country.
Tennessee is 14-16 all-time in domes. Its outings at the JMA Wireless Dome, where it is 1-1, are the only regular season contests it has ever played in a dome. UT is 6-10 at the Georgia Dome, 6-3 at Caesars Superdome, 1-1 at The Dome at America’s Center and 0-1 at the Alamodome.
The Vols and Orange played two of the same teams at last week’s Players Era Men’s Championship. Both fell to Kansas, while Tennessee beat Houston and the Orange lost to the Cougars in overtime. UT went 2-1 in Las Vegas, and Syracuse was 0-3.
This will be Rick Barnes‘ 350th game as Tennessee’s head coach.
With 843 wins, Rick Barnes leads active DI coaches and ranks ninth all-time (min. 10 years in DI).
Nate Ament ranks ninth among Division I freshmen in scoring at 17.9 ppg. That is sixth in Power Five, including first in the SEC.
Felix Okpara is 4-of-6 from 3-point range this year. He went 2-of-12 in his first three seasons. Okpara is 5-of-7 overall as a Vol.
Tennessee, Alabama, and Houston are the only schools to make the last three Sweet 16s. Tennessee, Alabama, and Duke are the only three in the last two Elite Eights.
[320;left]UT finished fifth in the AP Poll, Coaches Poll and KenPom for the second consecutive season in 2024-25, tying the program best set/tied just one year prior.
Tennessee’s 208 victories in the last nine years (2017-26) are cosixth in DI, alongside Auburn and Saint Mary’s. Only Houston (250), Gonzaga (246), Duke (228), Kansas (218) and Purdue (213) own more. The rest of the top 10 is Liberty (204) and Drake (203).
Racking up Ranked Victories
TOP 25: In the past five years (2021-26), Tennessee’s 31 AP top-25 wins lead DI. Only Alabama (30), Connecticut (28), Kansas (27), Iowa State (26), Purdue (25) and Arizona (24) are within eight.
TOP 20: Tennessee is first in the nation with 27 AP top-20 triumphs over that span. Only Connecticut (26), Alabama (25), Kansas (23) and Purdue (21) are even within seven.
TOP 15: The Volunteers lead DI with 23 AP top-15 decisions over those five years. Alabama (20) and Kansas (20) are the only schools even within six.
TOP 10: Since 2021-22, Tennessee owns 13 AP top10 wins, co-first nationally, alongside Connecticut. Alabama (12), Iowa State (12), Kansas (12), Arizona (11), Florida (11), Kentucky (11) and Purdue (11) are the only programs even within four.
TOP FIVE: In that same five-year span, the Vols have eight AP top-five victories, tied with Arizona for the most in DI. Alabama (seven), Florida (seven) and Iowa State (five) are the only others with even five.
TOP THREE: Tennessee has five AP top-three wins in those five years, tied with Florida for second in DI, behind just Arizona (six). The only other team with even four is Alabama.
And Doing So Efficiently
Tennessee, at 31-20 (.608), has the SEC’s best record versus AP top-25 foes over the last five seasons (2021-26). Auburn (22-17; .564) places second, while no one else has a mark over .530.
The Vols are 27-15 (.643) against AP top-20 teams in that span, 12 games over the .500 mark. Auburn (18- 14; .563) is second in the SEC, with no other team is above a .500 clip.
UT is 23-12 (.657) versus AP top-15 foes in that time, 11 games above .500. Auburn (14-12; .538) ranks a distant second among SEC schools.
At 13-9 (.591), the Volunteers have the best record in the SEC against AP top-10 foes over those five seasons. The only other SEC team above even a .460 clip is Florida (11-10; .524).
With an 8-7 (.533) figure, Tennessee has the second-best record in the SEC versus AP top-five teams in that stretch, trailing only Florida (7-4; .636). No other team owns a mark above even .400.
The Volunteers, even with their excellent winning percentage, have played the fourth-most games (51) against AP top-25 foes of any Division I team in the last five years (2021-26). They trail just Alabama (57), Texas (56) and Oklahoma (52) in such outings. No other SEC school is even above 43.
Dynamite “D” A UT Trademark
The Volunteers, through 11/29/25, rank No. 13 in the country in KenPom adjusted defensive efficiency (95.5). They are third in the SEC, behind only No. 10 Florida (94.6) and No. 12 Kentucky (95.1).
Tennessee finished 2024-25 third nationally in KenPom adjusted defensive efficiency (89.7), fourth in 3-point percentage defense (28.7), seventh in field-goal percentage defense (38.6) and No. 10 in scoring defense (63.0).
The Volunteers ranked third in 2023-24 in KenPom adjusted defensive efficiency (90.2) and placed fifth in DI in field-goal percentage defense (39.4).
In 2022-23, UT led the nation in KenPom adjusted defensive efficiency (87.5), taking the top spot for 15 weeks. The Vols led all DI teams in 3-point defense (26.5), plus ranked third in scoring defense (57.9) and field-goal percentage defense (37.3).
In six of the last eight years (2017-25), UT placed top-10 in KenPom adjusted defensive efficiency: third in 2024-25, third in 2023-24, first in 2022-23, third in 2021-22, fifth in 2020-21 and sixth in 2017-18.
UT is 103-9 (.920) under Rick Barnes when allowing 60 or fewer points, with 44 such wins in a row from 3/11/22 to 1/21/25. It was 22-0 in 2022-23.
The Vols, through 3/31/25, have won 50 straight (40 under Barnes) when conceding 50 points or fewer, since 12/29/12. That includes 12 such victories in 2022-23, matching Houston for the DI lead that year.
