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THE MATCHUP
• Tennessee is 2-5 all-time against Michigan State. The sides have met just once since 1994, a 70-69 win for the Spartans on 3/28/10 in the NCAA Tournament Elite Eight in St. Louis, Mo.
• The Spartans, ranked fourth nationally in both preseason polls, are coming off a 21-13 (11-8 B1G) campaign that included a trip to the NCAA Tournament Sweet 16. Michigan State was picked second in the Big Ten preseason poll.
• Michigan State returns five of its top six scorers from last season, including graduate student guard Tyson Walker, who paced the team with 14.8 points per game.
• Michigan State graduate student forward Malik Hall is a alumnus of Sunrise Christian Academy (Kan.), where one of his coaches for two seasons was current Tennessee assistant Rod Clark.
• The Vols will be without two- time First Team All-SEC honoree Santiago Vescovi, who is at home in Uruguay for a family matter.
• UT guard Josiah-Jordan James is the son of Kurt James, a Michigan State forward from 1979-82.
LAYING FOR A CAUSE
• This exhibition contest between the Volunteers and Spartans will raise money for the Hawai'i Community Foundation Maui Strong Fund, providing financial resources to the relief efforts from the devastating Maui wildfires.
• Tennessee will play in the Maui Invitational this season and has previously done so thrice (2004, 2011, 2016). This will be the sixth time head coach Rick Barnes takes a team to the tournament, including the second at Tennessee.
• Michigan State has been to the Maui Invitational five times (1991, 1995, 2005, 2010, 2019). Head coach Tom Izzo has competed in the tournament four times, including making his coaching debut there in 1995, and will take the Spartans back in 2024.
• This is the second straight season UT begins play with a charity exhibition against a top-five team. Last year, No. 11 Tennessee downed second-ranked Gonzaga, 99-80, in the inaugural Legends of Basketball Classic at the Comerica Center in Frisco, Texas, benefitting the McLendon Foundation.
COACHING ICONS
• Tennessee head coach Rick Barnes (27) and Michigan State head coach Tom Izzo (25) rank first and second, respectively, in NCAA Tournament appearances among active DI coaches. The two own a combined 1,466 career victories, as Barnes (779) ranks third among active DI coaches and Izzo (687) is No. 10. In addtion, Barnes (23) and Izzo (22) placed co-fifth and eighth, respectively, in career DI 20-win seasons among active coaches.
• Barnes and Izzo squared off eight times during Barnes' tenure at Texas, with each team winning four times. The most recent meeting came on 12/21/13, with Michigan State notching a 92-78 road victory over the Longhorns.
• The eight matchups between Barnes and Izzo came in six different locations. They met twice each in Austin, Texas, and East Lansing, Mich. They also played in Houston, New York, San Antonio and San Juan, P.R.
