The Official #6 [2] Tennessee vs. [15] Wofford Game Thread, 6:50 PM ET, TNT

#1
YankeeVol

YankeeVol

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Men's Basketball Championship - Midwest Region - 1st Round

#6 [2] Tennessee Volunteers: 27-7 (12-6 SEC)
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vs.

[15] Wofford Terriors: 19-15 (10-8 SoCon)
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GAME 35 | TENNESSEE vs. WOFFORD - Thursday, March 20, 2025 | 6:50 p.m. ET | Lexington, Ky. | Rupp Arena (20,500)

Line: UT -18.5
O/U: 133.5

TV: TNT / Watch
Radio: Vol Network / Listen
Satellite Radio: SiriusXM: 208 & 201 / Internet: ---
Online: March Madness Live

Wofford Game Notes

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#2
#2
THE MATCHUP

• UT is 8-0 all-time against Wofford, with three matchups coming in 1952-53 or 1953-54. The two have met just five times in 70 years since, with last year's game the only one in the past two decades.
• Wofford is one of four schools, two of which are DI institutions (both in the SoCon), the Volunteers are 8-0 or better against, alongside Lincoln Memorial (16-0), Emory & Henry (11-0) and Furman (11-0).
• Tennessee owns a 99-17 all-time record versus the current SoCon membership and has defeated all 10 teams at least twice.
• Rick Barnes is 25-1 in his career against current SoCon schools, good for his co-second-most wins without multiple losses versus any league. He is 10-1 at Tennessee, with the lone setback on 11/11/16 versus Chattanooga, 82-69.
• UT's Jordan Gainey and Wofford's Justin Bailey were teammates at USC Upstate in 2022-23.
• The Terriers, seeded sixth, earned three victories in three days to win the SoCon Tournament.
• Senior guard Corey Tripp leads Wofford with 14.3 ppg and 3.2 apg.
 
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#3
#3
NEWS & NOTES

• For the second straight year, the Vols enter the NCAA Tournament at No. 5 on the official NCAA seed list and at No. 6 in both the AP Poll and the Coaches Poll.
• UT is in the NCAA Tournament for the seventh time in a row, a program record and the fourth- longest active streak in the nation. It has been a top-five seed in all seven trips (top-three in five).
• This is the second time UT will play NCAA Tournament games at the arena of a league counterpart, joining a 3/13/77 setback versus Syracuse, 93-89 (OT), in Baton Rouge, La.
• In addition, this is the Volunteers' second NCAA Tournament trip to Kentucky. They fell to Purdue, 99- 94 (OT), on 3/18/19 in Louisville.
• The Vols are 28-27 all-time in NCAA Tournament play, including 9-6 under Rick Barnes, who has the most such wins in program history. More on Pages 10-11.
• Tennessee is seeking an NCAA Round of 32 spot for the fourth straight year. It has achieved that feat once before with a five-year streak from 1979 to 1983.
• With 833 wins, Rick Barnes is tied with John Calipari for ninth all- time (min. 10 years in DI) and for the most among active coaches.
• Zakai Zeigler's 242 assists are a UT single-season record and 18 shy of No. 1 in SEC history. His 714 career assists put him one behind Johnny Darden for both the Vols' career record and the third-most by an SEC player. More on Page 13.
• UT's 198 wins over the last eight seasons (2017-25) rank co-eighth in DI, alongside Auburn and San Diego State. Only Gonzaga (238), Houston (238), Duke (216), Kansas (212), Purdue (204), Liberty (199) and Saint Mary's (199) own more.
• The Vols, who reached 25 regular season victories for the third time, are seeking their fourth 28-win campaign in program history.
• Tennessee, Drake, Duke, Gonzaga, Houston and Saint Mary's are the only six schools with 25-plus wins each of the past four seasons.
• Over the last four years, UT leads or co-leads DI in wins over teams in the AP top 25 (29), top 20 (25), top 15 (22), top 10 (12), top five (seven) and top three (four).
 
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#4
#4
ALL-SEC ACCOLADES

• Zakai Zeigler and Chaz Lanier both won individual SEC awards from the league's head coaches. Zeigler earned SEC Defensive Player of the Year plaudits for the second straight season, while Lanier claimed the inaugural SEC Newcomer of the Year honor.
• The league's coaches tabbed Zeigler a First Team All-SEC competitor and Lanier a Second Team All- SEC designee. Zeigler is the 14th player in program history with at least three All-SEC nods that include two first-team choices. The others are Dale Ellis, Ernie Grunfeld, Allan Houston, Gilbert Huffman, Reggie Johnson, Bill Justus, Bernard King, Len Kosmalski, Chris Lofton, Dyron Nix, Paul "Lefty" Walther, Tony White and Ron Widby.
• Zeigler and Jahmai Mashack both made the cut for the coaches' SEC All-Defensive Team. This is just the ninth season—10th instance—with multiple players from the same team receiving SEC All-Defensive Team honors, including the second in a row for UT.
• Meanwhile, in the Associated Press voting, Lanier collected First Team All-SEC distinction and Zeigler garnered Second Team All-SEC status.
 
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#5
#5
A PAIR OF ALL-AMERICANS

• Chaz Lanier and Zakai Zeigler both earned The Sporting News Third Team All-America plaudits. No other school put multiple players on the list.
• Zeigler also registered AP Third Team All-America status, while Lanier picked up AP All-America Honorable Mention recognition. The final two official All-America teams will be revealed 3/19/25.
• Ernie Grunfeld and Bernard King form the only other same-season All-American tandem in Tennessee history. They each earned All-America plaudits in both 1975-76 and 1976-77.
• Lanier and Zeigler are also the lone teammate pair on the Wooden Award Top 15 National Ballot, from which the Wooden All-Americans and Wooden Award winner will be selected.
• The guards also form one of just three teammate tandems to make the 30-man Lute Olson Award finalist list.
 
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#6
#6
We get Brian Anderson and Jim Jackson as the announcers, who I believe did our 1st and 2nd round games last year.
 
#7
#7
Does Wofford have anything that poses a potential problem for the Vols? Not likely. This will be all about can we hit shots at our average or better. Or, is it one of those dreaded games where everybody struggles to find the touch.
 
#8
#8
Clad in Big Orange said:
Does Wofford have anything that poses a potential problem for the Vols? Not likely. This will be all about can we hit shots at our average or better. Or, is it one of those dreaded games where everybody struggles to find the touch.
Click to expand...
I'm not overly concerned. They were the 6th seed in the SoCon, and won 3 games in 3 days.

Although they have been shooting 44% from 3 on an average of 28 attempts those 3 games. Just gotta defend the 3
 
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#9
#9
We should be able to out rebound them and thus win by double digits. Florida pounded us on the boards has been a weakness all season. Sure miss the big guy that was injured.
 
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#12
#12
Clad in Big Orange said:
Does Wofford have anything that poses a potential problem for the Vols? Not likely. This will be all about can we hit shots at our average or better. Or, is it one of those dreaded games where everybody struggles to find the touch.
Click to expand...

If there are to be any areas of concern, I would look at:

1) They are a good rebounding team on both ends of the court. After being embarrassed by Florida in that department, I have a feeling the guys aren't going to let Wofford win that battle.

2) They play slow and shoot a lot of 3's. If we have one of our slow starting days and they knock a few down, we could potentially tighten up the longer it goes with either a close game or them, God forbid, being ahead. And with both teams playing a slow tempo, there are limited possessions. Also, lots of 3's mean lots of long rebounds (see point 1). Counter point... our defense will be something they haven't encountered and they will have a tough time getting wide open shots they would get in the SoCon.

They played 1 Q1 game all year and lost by over 50 to Duke. Their most impressive wins are against Saint Louis and Furman. It's the NCAA tournament and crazy stuff happens every year. But if we struggle to win this game I will be surprised and very disappointed.
 
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#24
#24
Not expecting much of a problem in game one. Have to measure what kind of rebounding team we are facing as we go forward. Were a very good defensive team, but having to defend two or three possessions so many times in so many games this season has been our largest problem.
 
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