University of Tennessee Athletics
HOOPS CENTRAL: Vols vs. Ole Miss
March 04, 2016 | Men's Basketball
KNOXVILLE, Tenn. -- Tennessee plays its regular season finale on Saturday when it plays host to Ole Miss. Tipoff is slated for 12 p.m. ET with television coverage provided by the SEC Network.
MORE INFO
Gameday Time & Broadcast Info
- Opponent: Ole Miss Rebels
- Date: Saturday, March 5
- Tipoff: 12 p.m. ET
- Venue: Thompson-Boling Arena (Knoxville, Tenn.)
- TV: SEC Network | WatchESPN
- Radio: Vol Network
- Online: Live Audio , Live Stats
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Tennessee (13-17, 6-11 SEC)
Roster Schedule Stats Game Notes
Ole Miss (19-11, 9-8 SEC)
Roster Schedule Stats Game Notes
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Saturday is Senior Day for the Vols (13-17, 6-11 SEC), who will honor its senior quartet in a brief ceremony prior to tipoff. Tennessee will recognize the contributions of Devon Baulkman, Armani Moore, Kevin Punter Jr., and Derek Reese, who will each be playing what could be their final game at Thompson-Boling Arena. The Senior Day ceremony is slated to begin shortly after 11:35 a.m.
In its most recent action, Tennessee fell at Vanderbilt by an 86-69 count. The loss gave UT's in-state rival their first single-season sweep of the Vols since the 2009-10 season. Tennessee was led by a game-high 23 points from freshman guard Shembari Phillips, who also went 4-of-5 from the 3-point line in the game. The senior Moore added 13 points to grab his fifth straight game in double-figure scoring while freshman Admiral Schofield chipped in 12.
Trailing by as many as 21 in the first half, the Vols used a second-half spurt to whittle the deficit down to 10 with just over 11 minutes remaining in regulation. The Commodores responded with a 15-0 run, however, to seal the decision.
Ole Miss (19-11, 8-8 SEC) roll into Saturday's contest having won three of its last four, including a big 86-78 victory over rival Mississippi State on Wednesday night. Senior guard Stefan Moody -- the SEC's leading scorer at 23.4 ppg -- erupted for 43 points in the Senior Night win. Moody accounted for 50 percent of the Rebels' points on the night while forwards Sebastian Saiz and Anthony Perez chipped in 10 points apiece.
All-time, Tennessee holds a 70-42 edge over Ole Miss, but is just 2-4 against the Rebels over the last four seasons and 6-6 since Andy Kennedy took the reigns of the Ole Miss program prior to the 2007-08 season. UT dropped its only meeting with Ole Miss last season, falling 59-57 in Oxford. The Vols own a 40-11 record all-time in home games played against Ole Miss.
Following Saturday's result, the Volunteers will learn their seeding at the 2016 SEC Men's Basketball Tournament, which begins Wednesday, March 9 at Bridgestone Arena in Nashville. A victory on Saturday would assure Tennessee of the 11th seed and a Thursday night meeting with the tournament's sixth seed. However, a loss coupled with a Mississippi State victory over Auburn on Saturday would drop the Vols into Wednesday's tournament-opening 12-13 game against Auburn.
INSIDE THE SERIES
- Overall: UT leads, 70-42
- In Knoxville: UT leads, 40-11
- In Oxford: UT leads, 25-24
- Neutral Sites: UM leads, 7-5
- Current Streak: Ole Miss has won one
- Last Meeting: Ole Miss won, 59-57, in Oxford, 2/21/15
- Barnes vs. Ole Miss: No meetings
- Barnes vs. Kennedy: No meetings
NOTEWORTHY
- True freshmen have scored 51 percent of Tennessee's points over the last two games.
- The Vols owned a +2.0 turnover margin before Kevin Punter Jr.'s injury. In four games without Punter, that margin is -1.5.
- Tennessee shares the SEC lead and ranks 35th nationally with just 11.1 turnovers per game.
- Tennessee is 3-1 in its last four Senior Day games. The loss came last season against South Carolina.
A WIN WOULD ...
- Prevent Tennessee's first four-game losing streak of the season.
- Give UT a 2-3 record in the absence of injured senior Kevin Punter Jr., who is the nation's 12th-leading scorer (22.2 ppg).
- Make Ole Miss the 174th school over which Rick Barnes has logged at least one career head-coaching win.
- Give the Vols a 3-0 record in their Smokey Grey uniforms.
ABOUT OLE MISS
- Ole Miss is 19-11 (9-8 SEC) in its 10th season under head coach Andy Kennedy.
- The Rebels have an RPI rank of No. 90 and have won three of their last four games, including an 86-78 Senior Day home win over Mississippi State Wednesday.
- The Rebels are 6-7 in true road games this season; that includes a 2-6 mark during SEC play.
- During SEC play, Ole Miss leads the league in steals (7.8 spg).
- Senior guard Stefan Moody scored 43 points Wednesday vs. the Bulldogs to raise his SEC-leading scoring average to 23.4 points per game --sixth-highest in the country.
- In SEC play, Moody averages 24.1 ppg, and he makes 3.5 3-pointers per game (second-most in the SEC).
- Junior forward Sebastian Saiz averages a team-high 8.8 rebounds per game and has recorded seven double-doubles this season.
LAST MEETING WITH OLE MISS
- Ole Miss held on for a 59-57 win over Tennessee Feb. 21, 2015, as Vol senior and current Miami Heat guard Josh Richardson's jumper at the buzzer rimmed out.
- Armani Moore led Tennessee with 15 points and nine rebounds. Richardson tallied 13 points, while Kevin Punter Jr. added 12, making four 3-pointers.
- Rebel Stefan Moody was the game's top scorer with 22 points, as he knocked down 6-of-11 from 3-point range. Jarvis Summers tallied 13 for Ole Miss.
- The game saw 20 combined 3-pointers, as the Vols were 9-of-23 from beyond the arc while Ole Miss was 11-of-31. The Vols out-rebounded the Rebels, 37-28.
- In a game that was tied four times in the final seven minutes, Moody's pair of free throws with 1:54 left put Ole Miss up for good at 58-57. Summers added another foul shot with 27.5 left to push the Rebels lead to two at 59-57.
- Richardson had a chance to give the Vols the lead and tie the game in the final 10 seconds. First his 3-point attempt with eight seconds left bounced off. Robert Hubbs III grabbed the offensive rebound, giving UT a final chance with 4.8 seconds remaining.
- Richardson had a chance to send the game to overtime, but his short jumper rimmed in and out, and the Rebels walked off the court victorious.
- The Vols didn't score for the final 3:07 of the game and didn't make a field goal for the last 4:12.
- The game turned into a 3-point duel midway through the second half, as the teams combined to make six consecutive triples.
MEMORABLE VOL PERFORMANCES AGAINST OLE MISS
- Brandon Wharton scored 20 points, Rashard Lee added 17 and 10 rebounds, Isiah Victor poured in 16 points and C.J. Black totaled 15 and 13 rebounds as UT upset the 11th-ranked Rebels 77-67 in Knoxville on Jan. 17, 1998.
- Gene Tormohlen grabbed 31 rebounds at Ole Miss on Feb. 11, 1957, to lift UT to a 98-88 win in Oxford. The 31 boards still stand as the second-best single-game effort in school history.
- Carlus Groves went 11-for-12 (.917) from the floor, the fourth-best single-game average in UT annals, against the Rebels to lift Tennessee to a 98-86 win in Knoxville on Feb. 19, 1992.
- Jeronne Maymon grabbed an incredible 10 offensive rebounds as part of an 11-point, 17-rebound effort against Ole Miss in the SEC Tournament last season in Nashville. Despite 21 points from Trae Golden and 15 from Skylar McBee, the Vols fell in overtime, 77-72.
FINAL HOME GAME FOR TENNESSEE SENIOR QUARTET
- Saturday marks the final game at Thompson-Boling Arena for Tennessee seniors Devon Baulkman, Armani Moore, Kevin Punter Jr. and Derek Reese.
- Moore and Reese are both four-year Vols, and both were members of Tennessee's 2014 Sweet Sixteen team. That duo has helped UT post a 48-17 (.738) four-year record thus far at Thompson-Boling Arena.
- Baulkman and Punter are junior-college transfers who are nearing the end of their second and final year on Rocky Top.
DIPLOMAS IN SIGHT FOR SENIORS
- All four Tennessee seniors are on track to receive their degrees by the conclusion of this academic year: Devon Baulkman (Communication Studies, Summer), Armani Moore (Communication Studies, May), Kevin Punter Jr. (Communication Studies, May) and Derek Reese (Psychology, May).
PUNTER SIDELINED WITH STRESS FRACTURE
- Senior point guard and leading scorer Kevin Punter Jr. has not dressed for Tennessee's last four games, and head coach Rick Barnes revealed on Feb. 22 that Punter has a stress fracture in his right foot.
- Punter's status is day-to-day as team doctors and athletic trainers evaluate how he responds to rest and rehabilitation.
- The foot began to bother Punter during pregame warmups at Kentucky Feb. 18, but he started and played 33 minutes, scoring 19 points in the loss.
HUBBS BATTLING KNEE INJURY
- Junior Robert Hubbs III, the Vols' third-leading scorer at 10.8 ppg, has missed Tennessee's last two games due to a right knee injury.
- Hubbs has now missed four games this season due to knee issues; he underwent an arthroscopic procedure on the same knee back in December and missed a pair of non-conference games during recovery.
VOLS START THREE FRESHMEN
- For each of the last two games, the Vols have started three true freshmen--point guard Shembari Phillips and forwards Kyle Alexander and Admiral Schofield.
- Prior to that, 317 games had elapsed since UT started a trio of freshmen: Wayne Chism, Ramar Smith and Josh Tabb at Florida on Feb. 3, 2007.
- Over UT's last two games, freshmen have combined to score 69 of the team's 134 points--51 percent.
- Tennessee has used nine different starting lineups this season.
- All but one scholarship Vol has started at least four games this season. Sophomore forward Ray Kasongo is the only scholarship player who hasn't started at least once.
ON PACE
- At 75.2 ppg, Tennessee ranks seventh in the SEC in scoring average. Should the Vols maintain that scoring clip through the end of the season, it would represent their highest average since 2008-09 when they scored at a rate of 78.4 ppg. It would also mark just the fifth season since the turn of the century in which UT has averaged more than 75.0 ppg.
- With an average of 4.7 blocked shots per game, the Vols--who boast an average roster height of 6-4--are on pace to block 151 shots this season. That would rank as the fifth-highest single-season total in program history. It would also mark just the fifth time that UT has blocked more than 150 shots in a season.
- Standing 6-4, senior Armani Moore is among the SEC's leaders in blocked shots at 1.76 per game. If he keeps that pace, he would tie for Tennessee's fifth-best single-season blocks average in program history alongside former Vol Marcus Haislip (1.76 per game in 2001-02). It would also give him 54 blocks this season--the fourth-most ever recorded in one season by a Volunteer.
- Should he reach that mark, Moore would conclude his four-year Tennessee career with 131 career blocks--good for a tie with former Vol and impending SEC Legend Vincent Yarbrough (1998-02) for seventh place all-time at UT.
- Through 30 games, Tennessee has attempted 671 3-pointers. At a rate of 22.4 3-point attempts per game, the Vols are on pace to attempt 715 this season. That would mark UT's most 3-point attempts since 2008-09, when it fired 728 shots from distance.
- Averaging 11.1 turnovers per game, the Vols are tied for the lead in the SEC with Arkansas for fewest giveaways per contest. At that pace, Tennessee will finish the season with 354 total turnovers--the fewest on record in program history.
