#6 Tennessee (12-4 | 2-1 SEC) vs. Florida (11-5 | 1-2 SEC)
Tuesday, January 16th, 2024 | 4:00pm CT/5:00pm ET
Knoxville, TN | Food City Center | TV: ESPN2
Knoxville, TN – The sixth-ranked Tennessee men’s basketball team returns home Tuesday after a two-game road trip, taking on Florida at Food City Center. Tipoff has been moved up to 4:00pm CT due to weather conditions potentially impacting travel.
The top of the G10 parking garage will be closed, but all fans with a G10 pass can still park in the lower levels of the garage. The G5 and G30 garages will be closed, and fans with passes for those lots can instead park in G3 or G4.
Fans can catch Tuesday’s game between the Vols (12-4, 2-1 SEC) and Gators (11-5, 1-2 SEC) on ESPN2. Karl Ravech (play-by-play), Jimmy Dykes (analyst), and Marty Smith (reporter) will have the call.
Fans can also listen live on their local Vol Network affiliate to hear Bob Kesling and Steve Hamer describing the action.
On Saturday, Tennessee came back to defeat Georgia, 85-79, at a sold-out Stegeman Coliseum. Fifth-year guard Dalton Knecht poured in a game-high 36 points, the second-most of his career, for the Vols in a thrilling victory to snap the Bulldogs’ 10-game winning streaks both overall and at home.
The Matchup
The Volunteers have won six straight home games against the Gators, a stretch that dates back to 1/6/16, over eight years ago.
Tennessee is 7-2 in its last nine outings versus Florida after going 1-4 in the prior five matchups.
This is the seventh time in the last 10 meetings, going back to 2/21/18, UT is ranked, and Florida is not. The Gators were ranked, and the Vols were not in nine of the prior 11, from 2/12/11 to 1/7/17.
Ranked UT teams are 15-8 (.652) against unranked Florida. On the other hand, the Gators are 13-11 (.542) when ranked and UT is not.
Florida came in at eighth in the SEC preseason poll after registering a 16-17 (9-9) record and playing in the NIT last year.
Florida’s Todd Golden and Missouri’s Dennis Gates, both of whom are in just their second season in the SEC, are the only two head coaches in the league whom Rick Barnes has not defeated.
Wonderful Week
Dalton Knecht notched 36 points, including 20 after halftime and 10 in the final 5:36, to help UT rally to victory at Georgia (1/13/24) after trailing by 11 with under 6:10 left.
Knecht also tallied 28 points, including 26 after the break, at Mississippi State (1/10/24), as UT came back from a 15-point deficit to thrice tie the game.
Across the two SEC road contests, Knecht averaged 32.0 ppg, including 23.0 ppg in the second half alone. His 64 points tied for the fourth-most in a two-game stretch by any SEC player over the last seven seasons (2018-24).
Knecht became the second SEC player in the last four years with a two-game span in which he scored 28-plus both times and averaged at least 32.0 ppg, joining LSU’s K.J. Williams (February 2023).
On the week, Knecht shot 22 of 38 (57.9%) from the field and 9 of 17 (52.8%) beyond the arc.
Knecht became the first Vol with two straight 25-point games since Admiral Schofield in December 2018 and first in SEC play since Kevin Punter Jr., in January 2016.
News & Notes
Dalton Knecht, Purdue’s Zach Edey, New Orleans’ Jordan Johnson and McNeese State’s Shahada Wells are the only four DI players with multiple 35-point games this season.
Jonas Aidoo amassed 10 points, a career-best 15 rebounds and a co- career-high five blocks in the win at Georgia (1/13/24). He became the first Volunteer with 15 plus rebounds since Kyle Alexander (17) on 1/8/19 at Missouri and the first with seven-plus offensive rebounds since Yves Pons (eight) on 2/4/20 at Alabama. Aidoo is the only Volunteer in the last 15 seasons with a 10p/15r/5b game and is the first SEC player toachieve that line since Auburn’s Walker Kesser in an overtime affair on 2/8/22 at Arkansas.
Tennessee has eight 20-point showings in its last eight games, with at least one in six of them.
Racking UP Ranked Victories
Over the past four seasons (2020-24), Tennessee leads all SEC teams in AP top-25 wins with 17, good for co-seventh nationally. It is also tied for with Arkansas for first among SEC schools in AP top-10 victories with seven, placing co-sixth nationally. UT’s five AP top-five wins in that span pace the SEC and are tied for the most of any team in America.
The seven AP top-10 triumphs during that time are: #1 Alabama (2/15/23), #3 Kansas (11/25/22), #3 Auburn (2/26/22), #4 Kentucky (2/15/22), #5 Kentucky (3/12/22), #6 Arizona (12/22/21) and #10 Texas (1/28/23).
Over the last four seasons (2020-24), Tennessee has played a league-high 31 games against AP Top 25 opponents, going 17-14 (.548). The Vols are the only SEC team, regardless of number of games, with a winning record against ranked foes during that span, while Alabama is second at 13-15 (.464).
Tennessee (31), Arkansas (29), Alabama (28) and Missouri (26) are the only SEC teams to play over 25 ranked foes 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 teams in postseason wins (15), while placing a close second in in total victories (156) and winning percentage (.719). In that span, the UT Vols have claimed 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 schools with an overall winning percentage over .700, alongside Auburn (.727) and Kentucky (.704). No other SEC team is at even .655.
In SEC play over the same seven-year period, Tennessee (74-36; .673) is second in the league in both victories and winning percentage, trailing just Kentucky (76-34; .691). Auburn (71-40; .640) is the only other team with 70 wins.
Over the last three seasons only (2021-24), UT has an overall record of 64-23 (.736). That is good for the most victories and the best winning percentage of any SEC team in that span.
INAM: “Ii’s Not About Me”
The Volunteers have posted 20-plus assists six times this season, including in five of the past eight contests. They have 25-plus twice this season, with a high of 27 against George Mason (12/5/23).
Tennessee ranks No. 17 in the country this year, per KenPom, with a 61.9 percent assist rate.
Last season, Tennessee placed second nationally, per KenPom, with a 66.2 percent assist rate. It also logged a 64.9 percent mark in SEC play.
Poll Presence
Tennessee has played 183 games as a ranked team in the AP Poll under Rick Barnes, posting a stellar 136-47 (.743) record. Over 64.5 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 115-42 (.732) record while ranked in the AP top 20 during Barnes’ tenure, an 84-29 (.743) mark while in the top 15, a 64-20 (.762) ledger while in the top 10, a 28-8 (.778) tally while in the top five, a 17-2 (.895) record while in the top three and a 7-1 (.875) mark while at No. 1.
The Vols are 23-20 (.535) in top-25 matchups under Barnes, including 17-13 (.567) 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.
Nationally Known
On 1/10/24, Dalton Knecht was named to both the Wooden Award Midseason Top 25 Watch List and the Lute Olson Award Midseason Watch List.
Santiago Vescovi claimed Blue Ribbon Preseason Fourth Team All-America honors. He was one of four SEC players on the list, joining Mississippi State’s Tolu Smith (Second), Texas A&M’s Wade Taylor IV (Second) and Auburn’s Johni Broome (Third).
For the second straight year, Vescovi also made the Naismith Trophy Preseason Watch List and the Wooden Award Preseason Top 50 Watch List.
