The Official #21 Tennessee vs. Texas Game Thread, 9:00 PM ET, ESPN2

#1
YankeeVol

YankeeVol

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#1
#21 Tennessee Volunteers: 10-4 (0-1 SEC)
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vs.

Texas Longhorns: 9-5 (0-1 SEC)
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GAME 15 | TENNESSEE vs. TEXAS - Tuesday, Jan. 6, 2026 | 9 p.m. ET | Knoxville, Tenn. | Food City Center (21,678)

Line: UT -10.5
O/U: 152.5

TV: ESPN2 / Watch
Radio: Vol Network / Listen / Live Stats
Satellite Radio: SiriusXM 106 & 190 / Internet: SXM App
Online: WatchESPN.com

Texas Game Notes

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#2
#2
THE MATCHUP
• Tennessee is 6-2 its last eight games versus Texas. The Vols are 4-0 last three years, with each win in a different city—Knoxville, Charlotte, Austin and Nashville— and two in postseason action.
• Rick Barnes, the head coach at Texas for 17 years (1998-2015), is 6-3 in games between Texas and Tennessee. He went 2-2 with the Longhorns and is 4-1 with the Vols.
• Texas general manager Chris Ogden played for Rick Barnes at Texas from 1999-2003. He then worked for Barnes for seven years at Texas (2008-16) and one at Tennessee (2016-17). He is one of 16 former Barnes assistants who have become head coaches (UT Arlington from 2018-21).
• Rick Barnes is one of 19 coaches to win 200-plus games at two DI schools, just six of whom are active. He logged 402 victories at Texas and has 242 at Tennessee.
• After finishing 19-16 (8-10) and reaching the NCAA Tournament, Texas was picked ninth in the SEC.
• Junior guard/forward Dailyn Swain leads the Longhorns with 16.4 ppg, 7.4 rpg, 3.4 apg and 1.7 spg.
 
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#3
#3
NEWS & NOTES
• Tennessee's Bryan Lentz worked for Rick Barnes at Texas for four seasons (2010-14) and Garrett Medenwald did so for three (2012- 15). Additionally, Gregg Polinsky (1983-86) and Steve McClain (2022-25) worked at Texas for three years apiece.
• Campbell Duncan and Gavin Paull both hail from Austin. Amaree Abram is a Port Arthur native and the second-cousin of J'Covan Brown, who played for Rick Barnes at Texas from 2009-12.
• Rick Barnes is one of seven to lead two DI schools to an AP No. 1 ranking. He took Texas to its first/ only spots atop the poll in Jan. 2010 and did so at Tennessee in both 2018-19 and 2024-25.
• Tennessee associate head coach Justin Gainey was Sean Miller's assistant at Arizona from 2018-20.
• With 846 wins, Rick Barnes co-leads active DI coaches and is co-ninth all-time (min. 10 years in DI).
• This will be Rick Barnes' 1,274th game as a head coach, moving him past Bob Knight for sole possession of No. 10 on the all-time list (min. 10 years in DI).
• Rick Barnes owns 112 wins in SEC play, tied with Hank Crisp for No. 18 all-time.
• Tennessee is 6-4 in SEC home openers under Rick Barnes, with four consecutive victories.
• Amari Evans led UT with a career-best 16 points on 7-of-7 shooting at #18 Arkansas (1/3/26). He is the 16th DI freshman in the last 20 years (2006-26) to make seven-plus field goals without a miss on the road against a Power Five foe. He is the first since Creighton's Frederick King (12/16/22) and only the second—the other is Florida's Andrew Nembhard (2/16/19)—from the SEC.
• 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.
• The Vols' 211 wins the last nine years (2017-26) rank co-seventh in DI, alongside Auburn (211). Only Houston (256), Gonzaga (254), Duke (233), Kansas (222), Purdue (219) and Saint Mary's (214) own more. Liberty (209) and Arizona (208) round out the top 10.
 
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#4
#4
HAPPY AT HOME
• Over the last five seasons (2021-26), the Volunteers' .932 (68-5) home winning percentage is second in DI. That mark trails only Houston (.947; 71-4), while Auburn (64-5; .928) and Gonzaga (64-5; .928) rank co-third.
• The tally includes a 37-0 (1.000) mark in non-conference home affairs and a 31-5 (.861) figure in SEC home contests. It also features an 18-2 (.900) home record versus AP top-25 foes, including a 13-2 (.867) count against AP top-15 teams and a perfect 7-0 (1.000) mark versus AP top-10 opponents.
• In total, UT is 146-25 (.854) at Food City Center in Rick Barnes' 11 years and has twice gone undefeated at home (18-0 in 2018-19 and 16-0 in 2021-22).
 
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#5
#5
DISHING OUT DIMES
• In each of Tennessee's first three games of the season—wins over Mercer (11/3/25), Northern Kentucky (11/8/25) and North Florida (11/12/25)— two different players had five-plus assists. The Volunteers had that happen just four total times during the 2024-25 season.
• The first four instances were recorded by four different players. Ja'Kobi Gillespie (six) and Ethan Burg (five) did it against Mercer, while it was Nate Ament (five) and Troy Henderson (five) versus Northern Kentucky. Gillespie (seven) and Ament (five) achieved the feat against North Florida.
• In 2024-25, only three different Volunteers had five-plus assists in a game at any point in the year.
• Against Northern Kentucky, Troy Henderson became the first UT freshman with five-plus assists and zero turnovers in a game since Kennedy Chandler (seven) on 3/13/22 in the SEC Tournament title game win over Texas A&M in Tampa, Fla.
• After notching 19 assists in the opener versus Mercer (11/3/25), Tennessee had 24 assists against Northern Kentucky (11/8/25), its most since 11/13/24 versus Montana (24). The Volunteers eclipsed that number with 26 against North Florida (11/12/25), their top tally since 2/17/24 against Vanderbilt (28). UT then posted 23 versus Rice (11/20/25), giving the team three straight games at 23-plus, and followed that with 20 against Tennessee State (11/20/25) for a fourth consecutive game at 20-plus.
• Bishop Boswell had five assists versus Rutgers (11/24/25) in Las Vegas, becoming the fifth different Vol to hit that mark in the first six games. Tennessee finished with 18 assists in the win, its sixth straight contest with at least that many to open the year.
• Tennessee had 30 assists on 39 made field goals against South Carolina State (12/30/25). It marked UT's largest total under Rick Barnes, its top count versus a Division I foe since 11/17/2009 (34 against UNC Asheville) and the co-fourth-most in any game in program history.
• In that victory over the Bulldogs to cap 2025, three Volunteers had six-plus assists. Ja'Kobi Gillespie logged eight, while Bishop Boswell and Troy Henderson each had six to set career highs. It marked the first time in the last 20 seasons (2006- 26) three UT players had at least a half-dozen assists in the same game.
• Through 14 games, Tennessee has registered 18-plus assists nine times, with at least 20 in six of them.
 
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#6
#6
My observation so far is that the Vols are pretty good, but still not going to get over the hump.

It's still early, so they could surprise us going into March. I sure hope so.

I thought the Vols started strong at Arkansas, but they didn't finish well. Give Arkansas credit for shooting the lights out at the very end.

Hopefully the Vols put together a complete game tomorrow night. They need it.
 
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#7
#7
camp_steveo said:
My observation so far is that the Vols are pretty good, but still not going to get over the hump.

It's still early, so they could surprise us going into March. I sure hope so.

I thought the Vols started strong at Arkansas, but they didn't finish well. Give Arkansas credit for shooting the lights out at the very end.

Hopefully the Vols put together a complete game tomorrow night. They need it.
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I keep reminding myself that they were in a similar situation a couple years ago with several early losses but went on to do quite well.Fingers crossed.
 
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#9
#9
Rocky Knocksville said:
The wife and I are going down for the game and I haven't been to a basketball game in a few years. What is the best place for free parking? AG lot?
Hope to see the light come on for Ament during this game and plenty of minutes for Amari Evans.
Go Vols!!
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If get there early enough you can possible get street parking at baseball field, But a lot of street parking is gone due to construction. Ag campus probably will be the place to go.
 
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#18
#18
camp_steveo said:
[...]
I thought the Vols started strong at Arkansas, but they didn't finish well. Give Arkansas credit for shooting the lights out at the very end.
Click to expand...
That right there may be the difference between the teams at this point in the season. I think Arkansas felt confident that sooner or later their shots would start falling.

I don't think this Tennessee team, individually or collectively, has that confidence right now--either from the field or from the foul line.

But early in the season, it looked like they did. I can't remember seeing that before with a team, except when there were injuries.
 
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#20
#20
BruisedOrange said:
That right there may be the difference between the teams at this point in the season. I think Arkansas felt confident that sooner or later their shots would start falling.

I don't think this Tennessee team, individually or collectively, has that confidence right now--either from the field or from the foul line.

But early in the season, it looked like they did. I can't remember seeing that before with a team, except when there were injuries.
Click to expand...
FTs are a big problem for sure. Probably could say FTs cost the Vols their game at Arkansas.
 
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