University of Tennessee Athletics
HOOPS CENTRAL: Vols vs. Chattanooga
November 09, 2016 | Men's Basketball
KNOXVILLE, Tenn. -- The Tennessee basketball program begins its 107th season on Friday night when it welcomes in-state foe Chattanooga to Thompson-Boling Arena for a 7 p.m. ET tip.
MORE INFO
Gameday Time & Broadcast Info
- Opponent: Chattanooga
- Date: Friday, Nov. 11
- Tipoff: 7 p.m. ET
- Venue: Thompson-Boling Arena
- Watch Online: SEC Network + (WatchESPN)
- Radio: Vol Network
- Online: Live Audio ,
Related Links
2016-17 Tennessee Media Guide Buy Tickets New Clear Bag Policy Gameday Info Follow @Vol_Hoops SEC Clubhouse
Tennessee
Roster Schedule 2015-16 Stats Game Notes
Chattanooga
Roster Schedule 2015-16 Stats Preseason Prospectus
The Latest From The Vols
Tennessee head coach Rick Barnes held his first press conference of the regular season Monday, revealing the return of the orange and white candy-striped warmup pants ...Read more
Tennessee had three scorers in double figures and forced 30 turnovers as it cruised past Slippery Rock in its lone preseason exhibition game ...Read more
Hard to Guard Vol Hoops Media Day Hoops Personnel Outlook Vol Hoops at #SECTipoff17 Vols Face Wisconsin at Maui Invitational
Friday's game does not feature a television broadcast, but fans can catch all the action online through SEC Network + on WatchESPN. Visit ="">WatchESPN.com or download the WatchESPN app to view the game on a computer or mobile device. Lyndsay Rowley (play-by-play), Steve Hamer (analyst) and Maddy Glab (reporter) are on the call for Friday's opener.
Fans can also listen live on their local Vol Network affiliate to catch Bob Kesling and Bert Bertelkamp describing the action.
Tickets are still available and can be purchased online through AllVols.com.
Friday is the season opener for both Tennessee and Chattanooga and marks the 39th overall meeting between the two programs. The Vols hold a 33-5 edge and have won four consecutive games in the series dating to 2007.
Tennessee's season opener also ushers in the 30th season of basketball at Thompson-Boling Arena. The Vols have enjoyed a winning percentage of nearly .750 (343-122) at the riverfront facility and are in the midst of a 20-year streak of top-20, NCAA Division I attendance numbers. Last season, the first under head coach Rick Barnes, Tennessee ranked 17th nationally in attendance, drawing fans at a clip of 14,232 per game.
THE SERIES
- Overall: UT leads, 33-5
- In Knoxville: UT leads, 22-2
- In Chattanooga: UT leads, 11-3
- Neutral Sites: No meetings
- Current Streak: Tennessee has won four straight
- Last Meeting: Tennessee won, 76-63, in Knoxville, 1/2/12
- Barnes vs. UTC: No meetings
- Barnes vs. McCall: No meetings
LIDLIFTERS
- Rick Barnes has led his teams to 14 consecutive wins in season-openers/home-openers.
- UT's average attendance in home-openers at TBA is 16,823. Attendance for last year's home-opener vs. UNC Asheville was 11,564 (Nov. 13, 2015).
- This is Tennessee's 30th season in Thompson-Boling Arena, where the Vols are 27-2 in lidlifters. That includes three opening wins vs. Chattanooga.
A WIN WOULD ...
- Give Tennessee a two-game win streak in season-openers.
- Give the Vols a 28-2 record in home-openers at Thompson-Boling Arena.
- Extend UT's home-opening win streak to 25 games, dating to 1992.
- Extend Tennessee's home winning streak against non-conference opponents to 18 games. That streak dates to December 2013.
ABOUT CHATTANOOGA
- Chattanooga went 29-6 last season in its first year under head coach Matt McCall, who previously worked as an assistant coach on Billy Donovan's staff at Florida from 2011-15. During McCall's four-year tenure with the Gators, Florida was 4-4 against the Vols.
- Last season, McCall was named the 2016 Southern Conference Coach of the Year after guiding UTC to a school-record wins total, the regular-season SoCon Championship (15-3), the SoCon Tournament title and the second round of the NCAA Tournament.
- The upstart Mocs recorded road wins at Georgia, Illinois and Dayton last season.
- Last year's top-three scorers all return for Chattanooga and include senior forward Tre' McLean (12.1 ppg, .365 3FG), senior forward Justin Tuoyo (11.1 ppg, 5.0 rpg, 2.3 bpg) and senior guard Greg Pryor (9.8 ppg, 3.5 apg).
- McLean was a first-team All-SoCon performer last year, while Tuoyo has been tabbed as the SoCon Defensive Player of the Year in each of the last two seasons. Tuoyo averaged 2.3 blocks last year.
- Chattanooga forward Casey Jones was tabbed as the preseason SoCon Player of the Year prior to last season, but he went down with a season-ending injury after averaging 12.6 points and 6.5 rebounds in the first eight games of the season.
- The Mocs' roster features six players from the state of Tennessee, including sophomore guard Dylan Brewster, who is a graduate of Lenoir City High School.
VOLS SUCCESSFUL ON STATE CIRCUIT
- Since the start of the 2005-06 season, the Vols have beaten every in-state Division I team. Those schools include Austin Peay (1-1), Belmont (3-0), Chattanooga (4-0), ETSU (6-0), Lipscomb (1-0), Memphis (4-5), Middle Tennessee (5-1), Tennessee Tech (3-0), Tennessee State (3-0), UT Martin (2-0) and Vanderbilt (15-9).
- During that span, UT is 47-16 (.746) against in-state Division I teams.
VFL RODNEY WOODS' SON IS A MOC
- From 1972-75, Rodney Woods starred as a 5-11 guard for the Vols under legendary head coach Ray Mears. Woods owns Tennessee's single-season assists record, with 227 (8.73 apg) as a senior in 1974-75. His 525 career assists ranks third in school history.
- Woods also was an outfielder on the UT baseball team in 1973 and 1974.
- Woods' son, Peyton Woods, is a 6-3 sophomore guard for the Mocs who appeared in 19 games last season and shot .467 from 3-point range (14-of-30).
- Rodney was Peyton's head coach at Wayne County High School in Monticello, Kentucky. With 2,467 points, Peyton Woods is the second all-time leading scorer at WCHS.
- The gym at WCHS was dedicated as the Rodney C. Woods Gymnasium on Jan. 4, 2014.
- On the basketball court, Rodney Woods wore No. 10 for the Vols, and Peyton now wears that same number for the Mocs.
FULKERSON, FOREMAN LONGTIME FRIENDS
- Vols freshman John Fulkerson and Mocs freshman Makale Foreman (first name pronounced muh-KALE)--both Kingsport natives--are extremely close friends who have been schoolmates and basketball teammates since the third grade.
- The two attended the same schools from third grade through their sophomore year of high school (2013-14), starring together on travel, middle school and high school teams during that span. They remained AAU teammates even Fulkerson left Dobyns-Bennett High School to attend The Christ School in Arden, North Carolina following his sophomore year.
- The Fulkerson and Foreman families are also close, and John and Makale have spent countless hours playing Playstation and Xbox and just hanging out.
- Foreman--whose older brother, Malik Foreman, is a senior defensive back on the Vols football team--spent a post-graduate prep year at Virginia's Hargrave Military Academy in 2015-16.
150 SECONDS OF ALL YOU'VE GOT
- With greater depth from top to bottom this season, head coach Rick Barnes has begun challenging his Vols to play with maximum effort for two-and-a-half minute shifts during game action. The concept requires not only mental and physical tenacity, but also a teamwide trust that after playing to exhaustion, the next man can come in and maintain the intensity and production.
- Said Barnes: "(One of the most important things this team is learning), if you ask these guys, is understanding how hard it is to play two-and-a-half minutes as hard as you can play, knowing that if you do that, there's somebody waiting to come in and try to keep it going. I think that's probably (the challenge) for the majority of the younger guys--understanding just how hard it is to play two-and-a-half minutes really hard."
TENNESSEE ROSTER BREAKDOWN
- The Vols' 2016-17 roster features 16 players (13 scholarship student-athletes) representing six states as well as Ontario, Canada.
- There are five Vols who hail from the state of Tennessee, three from North Carolina, and a pair of players are from Alabama. Georgia, Illinois, Texas and Utah also are represented.
- Tennessee has two seniors, one junior, five sophomores and eight freshmen (including one redshirt freshman).
- Thirteen Vols stand 6-5 or shorter, and three players are 6-6 or taller.
- For the second straight season, UT has just three players listed at 6-7 or taller.
YOUNGEST UT TEAM IN 20 YEARS
- In terms of under and upperclassmen, this is the youngest Tennessee team in 20 years.
- Kevin O'Neill's 1996-97 Vols had only three upperclassmen, just like this current UT squad.
UP NEXT
- Tennessee hosts another regional opponent on Tuesday, Nov. 15 when Appalachian State comes to Knoxville. That game tips off at 7 p.m. ET and will be televised on SEC Network.
- From there, the Vols make the long journey to Maui for the 2016 Maui Jim Maui Invitational. UT opens against Wisconsin at 2:30 p.m. ET on Monday, Nov. 21 and is slated for games on the 22nd and 23rd as well.
- After returning home from Maui, Tennessee opens the month of December with a home game against Georgia Tech on Dec. 3.
