University of Tennessee Athletics
Wednesday, February 7
Knoxville, TN
7 PM
University of Tennessee
vs
LSU
Hoops Central: #6 Tennessee vs. LSU
February 06, 2024 | Men's Basketball
KNOXVILLE, Tenn. – The sixth-ranked Tennessee men's basketball team returns to Knoxville to face the LSU Tigers Wednesday night at Food City Center. Tipoff is scheduled for 7 p.m. ET.
MORE INFO
GAMEDAY TIMES & BROADCAST INFO
- Opponent: LSU Tigers
- Tipoff:Â Wednesday, Feb. 7Â | 7Â p.m. ET
- Venue:Â Food City Center
- Watch Online:Â SEC Network
- Online:Â Listen Live |Â Live Stats
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Roster Schedule Game NotesLSU
Roster Schedule Game NotesTHE LATEST FROM THE VOLS
Vols Check in at Sixth in National Polls#5 Vols Knock off #10/8 Kentucky, 103-92, at Rupp ArenaKnecht Chosen for Julius Erving SF of the Year Midseason Top 10 ListKnecht Selected to Wooden Award Late Season Top 20 Watch List#5 Vols Fall to South Carolina, 63-59Fans can catch Wednesday's game between the Vols (16-5, 6-2 SEC) and Tigers (12-9, 4-4 SEC) on SEC Network. Kevin Fitzgerald (play-by-play) and Jon Sundvold (analyst) will have the call.
Fans can also listen live on their local Vol Network affiliate to hear Bob Kesling and Bert Bertelkamp describing the action.
The Vols defeated then-10th-ranked Kentucky in Rupp Arena Saturday night, behind a co-career-best 26-point, career-high 13-assist double-double from junior guard Zakai Zeigler and a career-best 26 points from fifth-year guard Josiah-Jordan James. Tennessee's wire-to-wire triumph over the Wildcats moved head coach Rick Barnes to 7-1 against AP top-10 Kentucky teams in his nine-year tenure at Tennessee.
THE MATCHUP
• Tennessee has won its last two games against LSU, both by 14-plus points, after dropping each of the prior four matchups, including three in a row by at least 12 points.
• This is the seventh time in the last eight meetings Tennessee is ranked. It went 3-3 in the six completed games, including 2-1 with LSU unranked.
• The last time LSU visited Knoxville in any month other than January was nearly eight years ago, when the Vols won, 81-65, on 2/20/16.
• Following a 14-19 (2-16) campaign in 2022-23, LSU was voted No. 13 in the SEC preseason poll, but has already doubled its SEC win total.
• Senior guard Jalen Cook and graduate student guard Jordan Wright are co-leading LSU in scoring at 15.5 ppg. Wright also paces the Tigers in assists (2.8) and rebounds (5.2) per game.
• UT freshmen Cameron Carr and Cade Phillips both attended Link Academy (Mo.) last year, alongside LSU freshman Corey Chest. The team finished No. 1 in the nation, per ESPN, and won the GEICO Nationals title.
NEWS & NOTES
• Zakai Zeigler posted a co-career-high 26 points, career-best 13 assists and game-leading three steals in the win at #10/8 Kentucky (2/3/24). The only other Power Six player in the last 11 seasons (2013-24) to log 26p/13a/3s in a game is Michigan State's Denzel Valentine, who did so on 2/14/16 versus Indiana, en route to AP and NABC NPOY honors.
• Zeigler is the fourth SEC player in the last 20 years (2004-24) with 25 points and 10 assists in regulation. He is the first from the SEC with 13 assists in a regulation road game since Florida's Nick Calathes on 2/14/09. His 13 assists tied for the ninth-most ever by a Vol. It was the co-sixth-highest total by a Kentucky foe in the last 62 seasons (1962-2024), the top mark since Vanderbilt's Billy McCaffrey on 1/13/93 and highest away from home since UCLA's Andre McCarter on 3/31/75 in the NCAA title game.
• Josiah-Jordan James scored a career-best 26 points against the Wildcats after totaling 21 in the first seven SEC games of the year.
DOMINANT DK
• Dalton Knecht ranks second in the SEC and seventh among Power Six players in scoring this season at 19.9 ppg. His 15.6 ppg career average is best among SEC players and seventh at the Power Six level. He is one of five DI players—the only other one now in a Power Six league is Purdue's Zach Edey—averaging 19.5 ppg this year who also did so last year.
• Knecht has 207 points in the last seven contests (29.6 ppg). The only other Power Six players to hit that mark in the last decade (2014-24) are Marquette's Markus Howard (2019-20 & 2018-19), Oklahoma's Trae Young (2017- 18) and Oklahoma's Buddy Hield (2015-16), all of whom were consensus All-Americans.
• Knecht has just 21 appearances at UT, but is tied for ninth in program history with five 30-point games and tied for fifth with three 35-point showings.
• Before Knecht, the last player with 16-plus points in seven straight SEC games in a single season was Vanderbilt's Scotty Pippen Jr. (eight from 2/8/22-3/5/22).
RACKING UP RANKED VICTORIES
• Over the past four seasons (2020-24), Tennessee leads all SEC teams in AP top-25 wins with 18, good for co-sixth nationally. It is also paces all SEC schools in AP top-10 victories with eight, placing co-sixth nationally. UT's five AP top-five wins in that span pace the SEC and are tied for the most of any team in America.
• The eight AP top-10 triumphs during that time are: #1 Alabama (2/15/23), #3 Kansas (11/25/22), #3 Auburn (2/26/22), #4 Kentucky (2/15/22), #5 Kentucky (3/12/22), #6 Arizona (12/22/21), #10 Texas (1/28/23) and at #10 Kentucky (2/3/24).
• Over the last four seasons (2020-24), Tennessee has played a league-high 32 games against AP Top 25 opponents, going 18-14 (.563). The Vols are the only SEC team, regardless of number of games, with a winning record against ranked foes during that span, while Alabama is second at 14-16 (.467).
• Tennessee (32) and Alabama (30) and Arkansas (30) are the only SEC teams to play 27-plus ranked foes since the start of the 2020-21 campaign.
WINNING WAYS
• Over the last seven seasons, dating back to the start of the 2017-18 campaign, Tennessee paces all SEC teams in postseason wins (15), while placing a close second in both total victories (160) and winning percentage (.721). In that span, the Vols have claimed a pair of SEC titles, winning the regular season in 2018 and the tournament in 2022.
• In that same seven-year stretch, the Vols are one of only two SEC schools with an overall winning percentage over .700, alongside Auburn (.725). The lone other team above .650 is Kentucky (.699).
• In SEC play over the same seven-year period, Tennessee (78-37; .678) is second in the league in both victories and winning percentage, trailing just Kentucky (79-37; .681). Only Auburn (75-42; .641) and Alabama (73-44; .624) also have 70-plus wins.
• Over the last three seasons only (2021-24), UT owns a 68-24 (.739) overall record. That is good for the most victories and the best winning percentage of any SEC team in that span.
INAM: "IT'S NOT ABOUT ME"
• The Volunteers have posted 20-plus assists eight times this season, including in seven of the past 13 contests. They have 25-plus twice this season, with a high of 27 against George Mason (12/5/23).
• Tennessee has a 61.0 percent assist rate that ranks No. 15 nationally, per KenPom, through 2/4/24.
• Last season, Tennessee placed second nationally, per KenPom, with a 66.2 percent assist rate. It also logged a 64.9 percent mark in SEC play.
POLL PRESENCE
• Tennessee has played 188 games as a ranked team in the AP Poll under Rick Barnes, posting a stellar 140-48 (.745) record. Over 65.0 percent of the Volunteers' games since Barnes arrived in 2015-16 have come with the team ranked in the AP Poll.
• Furthermore, UT owns a 119-43 (.735) record while ranked in the AP top 20 during Barnes' tenure, an 88-30 (.746) mark while in the top 15, a 68-21 (.764) ledger while in the top 10, a 30-9 (.769) tally while in the top five, a 17-2 (.895) record while in the top three and a 7-1 (.875) mark while at No. 1.
• The Vols are 24-20 (.545) in top-25 matchups under Barnes, including 18-13 (.581) with both teams in the top 20, 10-7 (.588) with both in the top 15 and 7-5 (.583) with both in the top 10.
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