#10 Tennessee (4-2) at #17 North Carolina (5-1)
Wednesday, November 29th, 2023 | 6:00pm CT/7:15pm ET
Chapel Hill, NC | Dean E. Smith Center | TV: ESPN
Chapel Hill, NC – The 10th-ranked Tennessee Vols basketball team travels east to face No. 17 North Carolina Wednesday night at 6:15pm CT on ESPN as part of the ACC/SEC Challenge.
Fans can catch Wednesday’s game between the Vols (4-2) and Tar Heels (5-1) on ESPN. Karl Ravech, (play-by-play) and Jimmy Dykes (analyst) will have the call.
Last week at the Maui Invitational, Tennessee picked up a 73-56 win over Syracuse, before narrowly falling to No. 2 Purdue, 71-67, and top-ranked Kansas, 69-60. In UT’s win over the Orange in its first game of the tournament, Josiah-Jordan James (15 points / 12 rebounds) and Jonas Aidoo (14 points / 11 rebounds) each logged double-doubles. That marked the first time the Vols had two players with a double-double in the same contest since November 2019.
The Matchup
The series between the two sides dates back to 2/21/1911, when Tennessee played at North Carolina in just the 35th game in program history during its third season (1910-11).
After dropping each of the first eight non-home contests in the series, #17 Tennessee, in the most recent meeting between the two teams, logged an 89-72 victory over #18/20 North Carolina, the eventual NCAA runner-up, on 11/21/2021 in the Hall of Fame Tip-Off Tournament in Uncasville, Conn., behind 18 points from Zakai Zeigler in his fourth collegiate game.
Rick Barnes is 7-3 in his last 10 games against North Carolina, as he went 5-1 during his Texas tenure.
After a 20-13 (11-9) showing in 2022-23, North Carolina placed third in the ACC preseason poll.
The Tar Heels are led in scoring by senior guard R.J. Davis’ 18.2 ppg, while two-time First Team All-ACC honoree Armando Bacot, a graduate forward/center, is averaging 15.8 ppg and 11.7 RPG.
Carolina Connections
Tennessee head coach Rick Barnes hails from Hickory, N.C., approximately 150 miles west of the Dean E. Smith Center, and was inducted into the North Carolina Sports Hall of Fame in April 2023.
Two Volunteer players—forward Jonas Aidoo (Durham) and guard Freddie Dilione V (Fayetteville)— are Tar Heel State natives, as are both UT associate head coach Justin Gainey (High Point) and class of 2024 UT signee Bishop Boswell (Charlotte).
Tennessee and North Carolina play in two of the three largest on-campus arenas in the country.
Armando Bacot is the third consecutive AP Preseason First Team All-American big man the Volunteers will face, following Purdue’s Zach Edey and Kansas’ Hunter Dicksinson.
The Vols are 115-100 all-time against current ACC schools, and Rick Barnes is 76-75 versus such foes. Tennessee, under Barnes, has won three in a row over ACC foes (Syracuse, Duke, and North Carolina), all at neutral sites.
News & Notes
This is the first time Tennessee has played three straight ranked teams in non-conference play in a single season. It did play three in a row across the 1978-79 and 1979-80 seasons, going 1-2. After a 73-67 loss to #5 Notre Dame on 3/11/79 in the NCAA Tournament Round of 32 (Murfreesboro, Tenn.) to end the season, it opened the next year with a 97- 80 home win over #9 St. John’s on 12/4/79, followed by a 77-75 home loss to #14 Louisville on 12/8/79 in the next game.
The 2011-12 season is also the last time Tennessee played four straight regular season games away from home. Like this one, that stretch featured three contests in the Maui Invitational (11/21-23) followed by a road outing (11/28/11 at Oakland).
Poll Presence
Tennessee has played 173 games as a ranked team in the AP Poll under Rick Barnes, posting a stellar 128-45 (.740) record. Over 63 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 107-40 (.728) record while ranked in the top 20 during Barnes’ tenure, a 78-27 (.743) mark while in the top 15, a 60-18 (.769) ledger while in the top 10, a 25-7 (.781) tally while in the top five, a 17-2 (.895) record while in the top three and a 7-1 (.875) mark while ranked No. 1.
The UT Vols are 21-19 (.525) in top-25 matchups under Barnes, including 16-12 (.571) with both teams in the top 20, 9-7 (.562) with both in the top 15 and 6-5 (.545) with both in the top 10.
Racking Up Ranked Wins
Tennessee leads all SEC teams in both AP top-25 wins (15) and AP top-10 victories (seven) over the past four seasons (2020-24).
The seven top-10 triumphs during that time are: No. 1 Alabama (2/15/23), No. 3 Kansas (11/25/22), No. 3 Auburn (2/26/22), No. 4 Kentucky (2/15/22), No. 5 Kentucky (3/12/22), No. 6 Arizona (12/22/21) and No. 10 Texas (1/28/23).
Tennessee (28), Alabama (25), and Arkansas (26) are the only SEC teams to play over 25 ranked opponents since the start of the 2020-21 campaign.
Winning Ways
Over the last seven seasons, dating back to the start of the 2017-18 campaign, Tennessee leads all SEC programs in total victories (148) and postseason wins (15), while placing a close second in winning percentage (.715). During that span, the Vols have captured a pair of SEC championships, winning the regular season in 2018 and the tournament in 2022.
In that same seven-year stretch, the Vols are one of only three SEC teams with an overall winning percentage above .700, alongside Auburn (.717) and Kentucky (.708).
In regular season SEC play over the same six-year period, the Vols own a league-best .706 winning percentage and stand alongside Kentucky as the only programs to log at least 70 league victories.
Over the last three seasons only, 2021-24, UT owns a 56-21 (.727) record. No SEC team has a better winning percentage during that span, while only Texas A&M (58) has more victories.
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:
-
- Tennessee
- Texas A&M
- Arkansas
- Kentucky
- Alabama
- Auburn
- Mississippi State
- Florida
- Missouri
- Ole Miss
- Vanderbilt
- Georgia
- LSU
- South Carolina
SEC Preseason Plaudits
Santiago Vescovi and Zakai Zeigler were both Preseason First Team All-SEC picks by the league’s head coaches, the lone such teammate duo in the conference. Josiah-Jordan James collected Preseason Second Team All-SEC plaudits, making Tennessee the lone school with three honorees.
The complete Preseason All-SEC teams, as selected by the coaches, can be found below:
FIRST TEAM: Trevon Brazile (AR), Johni Broome (AU), Riley Kugel (UF), Antonio Reeves (UK), Tolu Smith (MS), Santiago Vescovi (UT), Zakai Zeigler (UT), Wade Taylor IV (A&M)
SECOND TEAM: Grant Nelson (AL), Mark Sears (AL), Davonte Davis (AR), Justin Edwards (UK), Matthew Murrell (OM), Josiah-Jordan James (UT), Tyrece Radford (A&M), Tyrin Lawrence (VU)
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 is one of the 20 selections for the Julius Erving Small Forward of the Year Watch List.
