Fans can watch Tuesday’s game on ESPN+ and stream it on the ESPN app. Wes Durham (play-by-play) and Dennis Scott (color) will have the calls.Fans across the state can tune in to their local Volume Network radio affiliate to hear the Voice of the Volume mike keith And analyst John Wilkerson captures the action.
matchup
• After starting 1-3 in its series with Syracuse, Tennessee is 4-0 on the season with wins averaging 15.0 ppg.
• After not playing since 1/19/02, this is now the third consecutive year the two sides are meeting at different venues. The Volunteers claimed a 73-56 win at Honolulu on 11/20/23 and a 96-70 win at Knoxville on 12/3/24.
• From 1990-94, with rick barnes The head coach at Providence and Adrian Autry, a player at Syracuse, faced off eight times. The Orange compiled a 5–3 record.
• Tennessee is 126-101 all-time against current ACC schools and has beaten all but one of them, Notre Dame (0-1) at least once.
, rick barnes The current ACC membership is 85-77. He is 15-5 during his Tennessee tenure, including 8-1 over the last four seasons (2021-25).
• After going 14-19 (7-13) last year, Syracuse is ranked ninth in the 2025-26 ACC preseason poll.
• Second-year forward Donnie Freeman, who has missed the last three games due to injury, is pacing the Orange with 17.8 ppg.
News and Notes
, rick barnes He has 187 wins over NCAA title-winning programs in his career, 47 of which are during his tenure at Tennessee.
• Tennessee’s Bishop Boswell and Syracuse’s Sadiq White Jr., played together for two years at Myers Park High School in Charlotte, N.C. They won a 4A state title in 2022-23.
• The Volunteers and Orange play in two of the three largest oncampus arenas in the country. More information is on page 11.
• Tennessee is 14-16 all-time in domestiques. Its outing at the JMA Wireless Dome, where it is 1–1, is the only regular season contest it has ever played in a dome. UT is 6-10 in the Georgia Dome, 6-3 in the Caesars Superdome, 1-1 in The Dome at America Center and 0-1 in the Alamodome.
• The Vols and Orange played the same two teams in the Players Era Men’s Championship last week. Both lost to Kansas, while Tennessee beat Houston and the Orange lost to the Cougars in overtime. UT was 2-1 and Syracuse was 0-3 in Las Vegas.
• it will happen rick barnes‘350th game as Tennessee’s head coach.
• With 843 wins, rick barnes Leads active DI coaches and ranks ninth all-time (minimum 10 years in DI).
, Nate Ament Ranks ninth among Division I freshmen in scoring with 17.9 ppg. It is ranked sixth among the Power Five, which also includes first place in the SEC.
, felix okpara Is 4-of-6 from 3-point range this year. He finished 2nd out of 12 in his first three seasons. Okpara as a volume is a 5 out of 7 overall.
• 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.
• UT finished fifth in the AP Poll, Coaches Poll and KenPom for the second consecutive season in 2024–25, tying the program’s best set/best finish just a year ago.
• Tennessee’s 208 wins over the last nine years (2017-26) are tied for sixth in DI with Auburn and Saint Mary’s. Only Houston (250), Gonzaga (246), Duke (228), Kansas (218) and Purdue (213) have more possessions. The rest of the top 10 are Liberty (204) and Drake (203).
Continuation of victory in ranking…
• Top 25: Over the last five years (2021-26), Tennessee has had 31 AP top-25 wins over DI. Only Alabama (30), Connecticut (28), Kansas (27), Iowa State (26), Purdue (25) and Arizona (24) are within eight.
• Top 20: Tennessee ranks first in the nation with 27 AP top-20 wins over that span. Only Connecticut (26), Alabama (25), Kansas (23) and Purdue (21) are even within seven.
• Top 15: The Volunteers lead DI with 23 AP top-15 decisions over those five years. Alabama (20) and Kansas (20) are the only schools even within six.
• Top 10: Since 2021-22, Tennessee has 13 AP Top 10 wins, tied for first nationally with Connecticut. Alabama (12), Iowa State (12), Kansas (12), Arizona (11), Florida (11), Kentucky (11) and Purdue (11) are the only programs even within four.
• Top Five: Over that same five-year span, the Vols have had eight AP top five wins, tied with Arizona for most wins in DI. Alabama (seven), Florida (seven) and Iowa State (five) are the only states that also have five.
• Top Three: Tennessee has five AP top-three wins in those five years, tied with Florida for second in DI, behind Arizona (six). The only other team with four is Alabama.
…and doing so efficiently
• Tennessee, at 31-20 (.608), has the SEC’s best record against AP top-25 foes over the last five seasons (2021-26). Auburn (22-17; .564) is second, while no one else has a mark higher than .530.
• The Vols are 27-15 (.643) against AP Top 20 teams in that span, 12 games over the .500 mark. Auburn (18-14; .563) is second in the SEC, with no other team above a .500 clip.
• UT is 23-12 (.657) against AP top-15 foes at the time, 11 games above .500. Auburn (14-12; .538) is second among SEC schools.
•At 13-9 (.591), the Volunteers have the best record in the SEC against AP Top 10 foes over those five seasons. The only other SEC team above a .460 clip is Florida (11-10; .524).
• With a mark of 8-7 (.533), Tennessee has the second-best record among the SEC’s top five teams vs. AP, trailing only Florida (7-4; .636). No other team even has a mark above .400.
• Even with their excellent winning percentage, the Volunteers have played the fourth-most games (51) against AP top-25 foes of any Division I team over the past five years (2021-26). They trail Alabama (57), Texas (56) and Oklahoma (52) in such trips. No other SEC school ranks even higher than 43.
Dynamite “D” a UT trademark
• The Volunteers, as of 11/29/25, ranked 13th in the nation in KenPom adjusted defensive efficiency (95.5). They rank third in the SEC, behind only No. 10 Florida (94.6) and No. 12 Kentucky (95.1).
• Tennessee ranked third nationally in KenPom adjusted defensive efficiency (89.7), fourth in 3-point percentage defense (28.7), seventh in field-goal percentage defense (38.6) and No. 10 in scoring defense (63.0) in 2024-25.
• The Volunteers ranked third in 2023-24 in KenPom adjusted defensive efficiency (90.2) and fifth in DI in field-goal percentage defense (39.4).
• In 2022-23, UT led the country in KenPom adjusted defensive efficiency (87.5), holding the top spot for 15 weeks. The Vols led all DI teams in 3-point defense (26.5), as well as ranked third in scoring defense (57.9) and field-goal percentage defense (37.3).
• In six of the last eight years (2017-25), UT has ranked in the top-10 in KenPom adjusted defensive efficiency: third in 2024-25, third in 2023-24, first in 2022-23, third in 2021-22, fifth in 2020-21 and sixth in 2017-18.
• UT is 103-9 (.920) rick barnes 44 consecutive such wins from 3/11/22 to 1/21/25 while allowing 60 or fewer points. It was 22-0 in 2022-23.
• The Vols, from 12/29/12 through 3/31/25, have won 50 in a row (40 under Barnes) while conceding 50 points or fewer. That includes 12 wins in 2022-23, which would tie Houston for the DI lead that year.
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