University of Tennessee Athletics
Saturday, March 2
Tuscaloosa, AL
8 PM
University of Tennessee
at
Alabama
Hoops Central: #4 Tennessee at #14/13 Alabama
March 01, 2024 | Men's Basketball
TUSCALOOSA, Ala. – The fourth-ranked Tennessee men's basketball team travels south to battle No. 14 Alabama Saturday night at Coleman Coliseum. Tipoff is slated for 8 p.m. ET. ESPN's "College Gameday" program, airing at noon ET Saturday, is in Tuscaloosa for the top-15 showdown.
MORE INFO
GAMEDAY TIMES & BROADCAST INFO
- Opponent: Alabama Crimson Tide
- Tipoff: Saturday, March 2 | 8 p.m. ET
- Venue:Â Coleman Coliseum
- Watch Online:Â ESPN
- Online:Â Listen Live |Â Live Stats
RELATED LINKS
Buy Tickets Game Day Information Follow @Vol_Hoops SEC ClubhouseTENNESSEE
Roster Schedule Game NotesALABAMA
Roster Schedule Game NotesTHE LATEST FROM THE VOLS
Knecht Drops 39 in #4 Vols' 92-84 Win over #11 AuburnLofton Named an SEC LegendKnecht Tabbed to USBWA Oscar Robertson Trophy Watch ListVols Claim Season-Best No. 4 Ranking #5 Vols Take Down Texas A&M, 86-51, for Barnes' 800th WinFans can catch Saturday's game between the Vols (22-6, 12-3 SEC) and Crimson Tide (20-8, 12-3 SEC) on ESPN. Dan Shulman (play-by-play) and Jay Bilas (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.
Tennessee came back from an eight-point deficit with under 13 minutes to play Wednesday night to defeat No. 11 Auburn, 92-84, in a top-15 showdown in front of a record-setting crowd of 22,547 at Food City Center. Fifth-year guard Dalton Knecht poured in a co-career-best 39 points, including 25 in the final 12:01, to lead the Volunteers to victory.
THE MATCHUP
• Tennessee is 5-4 in its last nine meetings with Alabama, dating back to 3/4/17. The Volunteers won the last two games after the Crimson Tide took the prior three.
• Eight of the series' last 10 games, including six of the past seven, had a single-digit scoring margin.
• In the teams' first meeting this season, on 1/20/24 in Knoxville, UT claimed a 91-71 home win and held Alabama to what remains its lowest point total of the season. The 20-point setback was, at the time, the Crimson Tide's largest in SEC play since 2/2/19 (84-63 at Auburn). The Vols, who never trailed, led for 39:23 and by as many as 27 points. Dalton Knecht led all scorers with 25 points, while Jonas Aidoo had 19.
• Voted fifth in the 2023-24 SEC preseason poll, Alabama is coming off a year in which it went 31-6 (16-2), swept the SEC titles, made the Sweet 16 and finished top-four in both national polls.
• Senior guard Mark Sears, leads Alabama in points (20.6) and steals (1.8) per game, with the former mark second in the SEC.
NEWS & NOTES
• Alabama is the second of four straight ranked teams—all are top-20—on UT's schedule to end the regular season. The Vols have faced four straight AP-ranked foes just once, from Jan. 20-31, 2004, and have never played four straight top-20 teams. In the last 20 years (2004-24), only twice has any SEC team played four straight top-25 teams in a regular season: Vanderbilt from Jan. 7-17, 2023, and South Carolina from Jan. 16-27, 2018. In the past 56 seasons (1968-2024), that Vanderbilt team is one of four to play four straight AP top-20 teams in the regular season.
• UT head coach Rick Barnes' only other job in the SEC was as an assistant at Alabama in 1985- 86. UT assistant Gregg Polinsky worked at Alabama from 1986-95.
• Tennessee freshman Cade Phillips is a native of Jacksonville, Ala., whose dad (John David Phillips), uncle (Brodie Croyle) and grandfather (John Croyle) all played football at Alabama, while his mother (Reagan [Croyle] Phillips) played basketball there.
DOMINANT DK
• Dalton Knecht's 25.3 ppg average in SEC play is the second-highest mark of any player in league action (min. two GP), behind only Tommy Bruner (25.4 in Summit).
• Knecht's 20.5 ppg scoring average over the last two seasons is the fourth-best among all DI players active in both seasons.
• Through just 28 games, Knecht is already the ninth player in UT history with six 30-point games and the fifth with four 35-point outings. He and Bernard King (1976-77) are the lone Vols with 35-plus thrice in SEC play in a single campaign.
• Knecht and Mason Jones (2019- 20) are the only SEC players in the last 14 years (2010-24) with six-plus 30-point games and/ or four-plus 35-point games in a single season.
• If Knecht scores 14 points at Alabama, he would be the fourth player in the last 19 years (2005- 24) with 14-plus points in at least 15 straight SEC games in a season, alongside Antonio Reeves (2023- 24), John Jenkins (2011-12) and Jodie Meeks (2008-09).
RACKING UP RANKED VICTORIES
• Over the past four seasons (2020-24), Tennessee leads all SEC teams with 19 AP top-25 wins, good for four more than any other SEC program—Alabama has 15—and tied with Marquette for fifth in the country. It also paces all SEC schools in AP top- 10 victories with eight, placing co-sixth nationally alongside Purdue and Texas. The Volunteers' five AP top-five wins in that span lead the SEC and are tied with Arizona, Gonzaga and Michigan State for the most of any team in the nation.
• 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), UT has played 32 games against AP top-25 opponents, the second- most in the league, posting a 19-14 (.576) ledger. The Vols are the only SEC team, regardless of number of games, with a winning record against ranked foes during that span. Auburn (10-12; .455) and Alabama (15-18; .455) are tied for a distant second.
• Tennessee (33), Alabama (33) and Arkansas (31) are the only SEC teams to play 30-plus ranked foes since the start of the 2020-21 campaign.
HIGH-CALIBER COMPANY
• Tennessee, Arizona, Kansas and Purdue are the only four teams to earn an AP top-five ranking in each of the past three seasons (2021-24).
• In addition, Tennessee, Baylor, Houston and Kansas are the only four schools ranked in the AP top six each of the past four years (2020-24).
• UT is one of only six teams to reach the AP top six in four of the last six seasons (2018-24), joining Baylor, Duke, Gonzaga, Kansas (all six) and Kentucky. Those are six of the only 10 schools in the AP top five in at least four of the past six years, alongside Michigan, Michigan State, North Carolina and Virginia.
• The Vols are one of only 12 teams to earn an AP top- two ranking in at least two of the past six seasons. The others are Arizona, Baylor (three), Connecticut, Duke (four), Gonzaga (five), Kansas (four), Kentucky, Michigan, Purdue, UCLA and Virginia.
WINNING WAYS
• Over the last seven seasons, dating back to the start of the 2017-18 campaign, Tennessee paces all SEC programs in total victories (166), winning percentage (.725) and postseason wins (15). 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 of at least .700, alongside Auburn (.719). The only other team above even .650 in that time is Kentucky (.699).
• In SEC play over the same seven-year period, Tennessee (84-38; .689) is tied with Kentucky (84- 38; .689) for the league league in both victories and winning percentage. Only Auburn (78-45; .634) and Alabama (77-46; .626) even 70-plus wins.
• Over just the last three seasons (2021-24), UT owns a 74-25 (.747) overall record. That is good for the most victories and the best winning percentage of any SEC team in that span. Auburn (70-26; .729) ranks second in both categories, while Alabama (70-28; .714) is tied with the Tigers in the former.
INAM: "IT'S NOT ABOUT ME"
• The Volunteers have posted 20-plus assists 11 times this season. They have reached 25-plus thrice, with a high of 28 against Vanderbilt (2/17/24).
• Tennessee has a 60.6 percent assist rate that ranks No. 15 nationally, per KenPom, through 2/28/24.
• 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
• UT is 125-44 (.740) while ranked in the AP top 20 under Barnes, 94-31 (.752) while in the top 15, 74-22 (.771) while in the top 10, 33-9 (.786) while in the top five, 17-2 (.895) while in the top three and 7-1 (.875) while at No. 1.
• The Vols are 25-20 (.556) in top-25 matchups under Barnes, including 19-13 (.594) with both teams in the top 20, 11-7 (.611) with both in the top 15 and 7-5 (.583) with both in the top 10.
• Tennessee has played 195 games as a ranked team in the AP Poll in Rick Barnes' tenure, posting a stellar 146-49 (.737) 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.
Players Mentioned
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