#5 Tennessee (20-5 | 7-5 SEC) vs. Vanderbilt (17-7 | 5-6 SEC)
Saturday, February 15th, 2025 | 12:00pm CT / 1:00pm ET
Knoxville, TN | Food City Center | TV: SEC Network
Knoxville, TN – The No. 5/4 Tennessee men’s basketball team is set to face Vanderbilt in an in-state battle Saturday afternoon at Food City Center. Tipoff is slated for 12:00pm CT (1:00pm ET).
Fans can catch Saturday’s game between the Volunteers (20-5, 7-5 SEC) and Commodores (17-7, 5-6 SEC) on SEC Network. Dave Neal (play-by-play) and Pat Bradley (analyst) will have the call.
Fans can also listen live on their local Vol Network affiliate to hear Bob Kesling and Bert Bertelkamp describing the action.
In Tennessee’s most recent outing, trailing No. 15/18 Kentucky by nine in the final minute of the first half and by seven with under 14 minutes to play, it roared back to take a three-point lead, but could not hold on down the stretch in a 75-64 setback.
Senior guard Zakai Zeigler, who entered the top 25 on the school’s all-time scoring list and the top six on the SEC’s career assists leaderboard, had game highs in points (17) and assists (six) for No. 5/4 Tennessee (20-5, 7-5 SEC) at Rupp Arena
The Matchup
UT’s 131 wins over Vanderbilt are its most versus any foe. Georgia (100) is the only other school it has defeated triple-digit times.
Since Food City Center opened in 1987-88, Tennessee is 28-9 at home against the Commodores, including 15-4 in the last 19 affairs.
UT has seven straight home wins over Vanderbilt, by an average of 13.4 ppg. Last year, it won by 35.
The Volunteers are 13-2 in their last 15 contests against Vanderbilt, since 1/9/18. Both defeats were one-point road setbacks (66-65 on 2/8/23 and 76-75 on 1/18/25).
This is the 14th time in the last 16 series meetings, also dating to 1/9/18, that Tennessee is ranked, and Vanderbilt is not. It is the ninth time in that stretch, including the sixth in a row, that UT is in the top 10.
Coming off a 9-23 (4-14) campaign in 2023-24, Vanderbilt placed No. 16 in the SEC preseason poll.
Junior guard Jason Edwards leads Vanderbilt with 17.4 ppg.
News and Notes
Vanderbilt is the only team the Volunteers play at home in a five-game, 23-day stretch (Feb. 6-28).
The Commodores are the first unranked SEC team visiting UT since 2/24/24, snapping an eight-game streak across two seasons.
Over the past eight campaigns, all in the Rick Barnes era, UT is 27-9 (.750) in the second leg of regular season home-and-home series.
Tennessee is 34-7 (.829) against in-state opposition under Rick Barnes, including 17-2 (.895) in its last 19 such games.
The Volunteers have earned a top-10 position in 31 of the 36 AP Poll releases over the last two seasons, including a top-eight spot in 27 of the last 30 releases.
Igor Milic?ic? Jr., is one of just five SEC players in the last 15 years (2010-25) to post at least 19 points, nine rebounds and four assists in a game three-plus times in a single season.
The others are Auburn’s Johni Broome (2024- 25), Texas A&M’s Tyrece Radford (2023-24), Tennessee’s Grant Williams (2018-19) and LSU’s Ben Simmons (2015-16).
UT’s eight Quad 1 wins are tied for the second-most in the country, alongside Alabama and Kentucky. Only Auburn (13) has more.
Zakai Zeigler has 651 assists, sixth-most in SEC history. He is five back of Georgia/Kentucky’s Sahvir Wheeler (656 from 2019-23) for fifth and 13 behind Alabama’s Terry Coner (664 from 1983-87) for fourth.
Jahmai Mashack and Zakai Zeigler are each one victory away from becoming the seventh and eighth players to win 100 games at Tennessee.
Felix Okpara (46) is four blocks away from the 13th 50-block season in UT history, while Chaz Lanier (84) is five made 3-pointers from No. 10 on the program’s single-season leaderboard (89).
Tennessee’s 191 victories over the last eight seasons (2017-25) rank ninth in DI. Only Gonzaga (231), Houston (228), Kansas (208), Duke (206), Purdue (201), Saint Mary’s (193), San Diego State (193) and Auburn (192) possess more. Drake (190) and Liberty (190) tie to round out the top 10.
Racking Up Ranked Victories
TOP 25: In the past four years (2021-25), Tennessee’s 26 AP top-25 wins lead the nation. Only Connecticut (25), Kansas (25), Iowa State (24) and Purdue (23) are even within three, while the closest SEC school is four behind (Alabama with 22).
TOP 20: Tennessee possesses an SEC-high 22 AP top-20 triumphs over that span, the co-second- most of any DI school, tied with Kansas (22) and trailing only Connecticut (23). Just Purdue (19), Alabama (closest SEC team with 18) and Iowa State (18) are even within five of the Volunteers.
TOP 15: The Volunteers own an SEC-best 19 AP top- 15 decisions over those four years, good for second- most in the country, behind just Kansas (20). Only Alabama (closest SEC team with 16), Iowa State (15) and Kentucky (15) are even within four of UT.
TOP 10: Since 2021-22, Tennessee owns nine AP top- 10 wins, co-second in the SEC and co-sixth nationally, both alongside Alabama. Only Connecticut (12), Iowa State (12), Kansas (12), Kentucky (11) and Purdue (10) have more. The nine such wins in that time are against #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), #10 Texas (1/28/23), at #10 Kentucky (2/3/24) and #5 Florida (2/1/25).
TOP FIVE: In that same four-year span, UT has six AP top-five victories, tied with Arizona for the most in the country. Only six other schools have even four: Alabama (five), Iowa State (five), Florida (four), Gonzaga (four), Kentucky (four) and Purdue (four).
High-Caliber Company
Tennessee and Kansas are the only two schools to earn an AP top-five ranking in each of the last four seasons (2021-25). Only two others, Arizona and Purdue, entered 2024-25 with a three-year streak.
The Volunteers are one of only four teams to reach the AP top six in each of the past five seasons, alongside Alabama, Houston, and Kansas.
UT is one of just five programs to reach the AP top six in at least six of the last seven seasons (2018- 25), alongside Duke, Gonzaga, Kansas and Kentucky. Those are also the only five schools to enter the AP top five in at least five different years in that stretch.
The Vols are among only eight teams to reach the No. 1 spot in the AP Poll in at least two of the last seven seasons (2018-25), joining Auburn, Baylor, Duke, Gonzaga, Houston, Kansas, and Purdue.
Over that same seven-year stretch (2018-25), UT is also one of seven teams to claim an AP top-two position in at least three seasons, alongside Baylor, Connecticut, Duke, Gonzaga, Kansas, and Purdue.
UT is one of seven schools with an AP top-20 ranking in each of the last eight years (2017-25), alongside Duke, Gonzaga, Kansas, Kentucky, Michigan State, and North Carolina. Just two others—Houston and Purdue—have even been AP top-25 each season.
Additionally, over the last three years (2022-25), the Vols are one of just six teams to reach the AP top two in multiple seasons, joining Alabama, Connecticut, Duke, Kansas and Purdue.
Particularly Potent At Home
Under Rick Barnes, Tennessee is 22-8 (.733) versus AP top-25 teams at Food City Center, including 17-2 (.895) in its last 19 such games (since 1/30/21).
The Volunteers are 17-7 (.708) at home against AP top-20 teams in the Barnes era, including 13-2 (.867) in their last 15 such contests (since 1/30/21).
UT has a 14-5 (.737) mark when hosting AP top-15 squads under Barnes, including a 12-2 (.857) record in its last 14 such affairs (since 1/30/21).
Barnes has led the Vols to an 8-1 (.889) ledger at Food City Center versus AP top-10 teams, with seven consecutive wins (since 3/2/19).
UT is a perfect 6-0 when hosting AP top-five teams in the Barnes era (all since 1/24/17). The six straight wins are an SEC record, per ESPN, surpassing the mark of five by Kentucky in 1978-84 and 1956-59.
The Vols won 12 straight home games against AP top-25 foes from 1/30/21 to 2/28/24. That is an SEC record, per CBS Sports, and the longest in DI since Kansas had 17 straight from 1/11/14 to 2/13/17. Nine of those victories were versus top-15 foes, with five against the top 10 and three over top-five teams.
Tennessee is 19-5 (.792) in AP top-25 home matchups under Barnes, including 13-5 (.722) with both teams in the top 20, 8-2 (.800) with both in the top 15 and 4-0 (1.000) with both in the top 10.
1.3K Club
Tennessee, Alabama (five), Ole Miss and Xavier—all but one are in the SEC—are the only schools with at least four 1,300-point scorers. Just 11 others programs have even three.
In total, only 27 teams—10 are in the SEC—have four- plus players with even 1,000 collegiate points.
Jordan Gainey possesses 1,441 points in 125 contests, an average of 11.5 ppg over four years.
Darlinstone Dubar has 1,431 points in 136 outings, good for 10.5 ppg across five seasons.
Chaz Lanier, the only member of the quartet who entered the season below 1K, now has 1,373 points in 129 outings, a 10.6 ppg ledger across five campaigns.
Zakai Zeigler owns 1,365 points in 125 appearances, giving him a 10.9 ppg average in four seasons.
Top-Tier Triumphs
Tennessee is 40-41 (.494) against AP top-25 foes under Rick Barnes, including 24-14 (.632) in its past 38 such games (since 1/22/22).
The Volunteers are 34-33 (.507) versus AP top-20 teams in Barnes’ tenure, including 20-10 (.667) in their last 30 such affairs (since 1/22/22).
UT is 26-26 (.500) against AP top-15 teams in the Barnes era, including 19-9 (.679) in its last 28 such games (since 12/22/21).
The Vols own a 14-15 (.483) record versus AP top-10 foes under Barnes, including a 12-9 (.571) mark in their last 21 such contests (since 3/2/19) and a 9-6 (.600) tally in their last 15 (since 12/22/21).
UT is 10-9 (.526) against AP top-five opponents in Barnes’ tenure, including 6-4 (.600) in its last 10 such affairs (since 2/15/22). It is 8-2 (.800) versus AP top-five SEC teams, including 7-1 (.875) in its last seven such outings (since 3/2/19).
20,000 Strong
In Rick Barnes‘ 10 seasons, Tennessee has played in front of a home crowd of at least 20,000 on 44 occasions (34-10), with 31 sellouts (24-7).
In 2022-23, the Volunteers had five sellout crowds, at the time tying an arena single-season record.
Tennessee well eclipsed that mark last season by selling out eight home games—including seven of nine in SEC play—good for its most ever at Food City Center. Four of those were over-capacity crowds, with the last three above 22,000.
This season, Tennessee has already clinched six sellouts: Syracuse (12/3/24), Arkansas (1/5/25), Mississippi State (1/21/25), Kentucky (1/28/25), Florida (2/1/25) and Alabama (3/1/25).
Happy At Home
Over the last four seasons (2021-25), the Vols’ .919 (57-5) home winning percentage is ninth in DI (co- sixth in Power Five, second in SEC).
In the last eight years (2017-25), UT is at .875 (112- 16), No. 11 in DI (sixth in Power Five, second in SEC).
In total, UT is 135-25 (.844) at Food City Center in Rick Barnes‘ 10 years and has twice gone undefeated at home (18-0 in 2018-19 and 16-0 in 2021-22).
