University of Tennessee Athletics
University of Tennessee
Auburn
Hoops Central: #8/6 [4] Tennessee vs. #3 [1] Auburn
March 15, 2025 | Men's Basketball
NASHVILLE, Tenn. – After an 83-72 quarterfinal victory Friday over No. 13-seeded Texas, No. 8/6 Tennessee squares off with third-ranked Auburn in the semifinals Saturday at 1 p.m. Tipoff for the matchup between the No. 4 and No. 1 seeds, respectively, in the field is set for 1 p.m. ET from Bridgestone Arena.
MORE INFO
GAMEDAY TIMES & BROADCAST INFO
- Opponent: Auburn Tigers
- Tipoff:Â Friday, March 14Â | 3:30Â p.m. ET
- Venue:Â Bridgestone Arena
- Watch Online:Â ESPN
- Online:Â Listen Live |Â Live Stats
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Roster Schedule Game NotesAUBURN
Roster Schedule Game NotesÂTHE LATEST FROM THE VOLS
#8/6 Vols Beat Texas, 83-72, in SEC Tournament Quarterfinal Zeigler on Two CollegeInsider.com NPOY Award Finalist Lists, Lanier Tabbed to One Zeigler, Mashack and Lanier Tabbed Finalists for CollegeInsider.com Awards Zeigler, Mashack Among 10 Naismith Defensive Player of the Year Semifinalists Lanier, Zeigler Selected as The Sporting News Third Team All-AmericansFans can catch Saturday's game between the Volunteers (26-6) and Tigers (28-4)Â on ESPN. Dan Shulman (play-by-play), Jay Bilas (analyst) and Jess Sims (reporter) 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.
In its last outing, Tennessee registered an 83-72 triumph over Texas in the SEC Tournament quarterfinals Friday afternoon at Bridgestone Arena.
Fifth-year guard Chaz Lanier, playing in his hometown, led all scorers with 23 points, 17 of which came in the first nine minutes. Senior guard Zakai Zeigler, who scored all 19 of his points in the second half, set the Tennessee single-season assist record in the victory, plue eclipsed the 700 mark in his career.
THE MATCHUP
•    In the regular season game, UT led by four with under 2:00 left on the road, but Auburn closed on a 6-0 run in the last 1:46 to win by two.
•    Tennessee is 3-2 in its last five contests versus Auburn after dropping six in a row before that.
• This is the sixth time in the last 10 meetings both sides are ranked, with the Vols 3-2 in the prior five. Before 3/17/19, both were ranked in just two of the first 85 clashes of the AP Poll era, each taking one.
•   This is also the 12th straight series matchup with at least one team ranked. Before 1/2/18, only 27 of the first 83 AP Poll era contests featured a ranked team.
• Auburn head coach Bruce Pearl led UT for six seasons, 2005-11, going 145-61 with three Sweet 16s, including an Elite Eight, and one SEC regular season crown.
•   The Tigers, ranked No. 1 in the AP Poll for eight weeks this year, claimed the SEC outright title.
•   SEC Player of the Year Johni Broome, a senior forward/center, leads Auburn with 18.7 ppg, an SEC-high 10.7 rpg and an SEC-best 2.4 bpg.
NEWS & NOTES
•   Auburn associate head coach Steven Pearl played for his father at UT from 2007-11, while assistant coach Ira Bowman competed for Rick Barnes at Providence for two seasons (1991-93).
•   This will be Tennessee's 17th game versus Bruce Pearl. The only active coaches it has faced more are  John Calipari (39), Rick Pitino (22) and Frank Martin (18).
•   The Vols are 75-58 (.564) in SEC Tournament play, with five titles. They are 12-7 (.632), with one crown, in Rick Barnes' tenure.
•   Tennessee is seeking its fourth SEC Tournament final berth in the last seven events. It won the crown in 2022 after dropping the title game in 2018 and 2019.
•   During its active 78-week streak in the AP Poll, dating to the 2021-22 preseason release, Tennessee has played just 15 of its 139 games as a lower-ranked team, posting an 9-6 record. That includes an 8-4 mark since 1/22/22 and a 6-2 tally versus SEC foes.
•   This is UT's sixth AP top-eight clash versus an SEC team this season. It had seven prior all-time.
•   All four SEC semifinalists are ranked in the top eight. Tennessee posted a 2-2 record against the other four in the regular season.
•   With 832 victories, Rick Barnes is No. 10 all-time (min. 10 years in DI) and one shy of John Calipari.
•   Zakai Zeigler owns Tennessee's single-season assist record with 230, one away from entering the SEC top 10. His 702 career assists are 13 shy of the UT record, while his his UT-best 241 steals are four away from a top-10 spot on the SEC's all-time list. More on Page 11.
•   Jahmai Mashack and Zakai Zeigler are 105-34 (.755) at UT, good for the most wins ever by a four-year Vol. The record was a 104-38 (.732) tally by Wayne Chism and Quinn Cannington from 2006-10.
•   UT now has 26 wins for the eighth time. Five are under Rick Barnes.
•   Tennessee's 197 victories over the last eight seasons (2017-25) rank co-No. 10, alongside Drake, in DI. Only Gonzaga (238), Houston (237), Duke (215), Kansas (212), Purdue (204), Saint Mary's (199), Auburn (198), Liberty (198), San Diego State (198) own more.
ALL-SEC ACCOLADES
• Zakai Zeigler and Chaz Lanier both won individual awards in the All-SEC voting from the league's head coaches. Zeigler earned SEC Defensive Player of the Year plaudits for the second straight season, while Chaz Lanier claimed the inaugural SEC Newcomer of the Year honor.
• The league's coaches tabbed Zeigler a First Team All-SEC competitor and Lanier a Second Team All- SEC designee. Zeigler is the 14th player in program history with at least three All-SEC nods that include two first-team choices. The others are Dale Ellis, Ernie Grunfeld, Allan Houston, Gilbert Huffman, Reggie Johnson, Bill Justus, Bernard King, Len Kosmalski, Chris Lofton, Dyron Nix, Paul "Lefty" Walther, Tony White and Ron Widby.
• Zeigler and Jahmai Mashack both made the cut for the coaches' SEC All-Defensive Team. This is just the ninth season—10th instance—with multiple players from the same team receiving SEC All-Defensive Team honors, including the second in a row for UT.
• Meanwhile, in the Associated Press voting, Lanier collected First Team All-SEC distinction and Zeigler garnered Second Team All-SEC status.
A PAIR OF ALL-AMERICANS
• Chaz Lanier and Zakai Zeigler both earned The Sporting News Third Team All-America plaudits. No other school put multiple players on the list.
• Ernie Grunfeld and Bernard King, arguably the best duo to ever play together in the SEC, form the only other same-season All-American tandem in Tennessee history. They each earned All-America plaudits in both 1975-76 and 1976-77.
• Lanier and Zeigler are also the lone teammate pair on the Wooden Award Top 15 National Ballot, from which the Wooden All-Americans and Wooden Award winner will be selected.
• The two guards form one of just three teammate tandems to make the 30-man Lute Olson Award finalist list.
• Lanier and Zeigler are among the 30 players on the Naismith Trophy Midseason Team, one of just five teammate pairs on the list. Additionally, they are among seven teammate duos on 50-player USBWA Oscar Robertson Trophy Watch List.
RACKING UP RANKED VICTORIES
• TOP 25: In the past four years (2021-25), Tennessee's 28 AP top-25 wins lead DI. Only Alabama (closest SEC team with 26), Connecticut (26), Kansas (26), Iowa State (25) and Purdue (23) are even within six.
• TOP 20: Tennessee is co-first in the nation with 24 AP top-20 triumphs over that span, tying Connecticut (24). Only Kansas (22) and Alabama (closest SEC team with 21) are even within four.
• TOP 15: The Volunteers lead DI with 21 AP top-15 decisions over those four years. Kansas (20) and Alabama (closest SEC team with 18) are the only schools within four.
• TOP 10: Since 2021-22, Tennessee owns 11 AP top-10 wins, co-second in the SEC and co-fourth nationally, both alongside Kentucky (11). Only Connecticut (12), Iowa State (12) and Kansas (12) have more. The 11 wins in that time are against #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), at #10 Kentucky (2/3/24), #5 Florida (2/1/25), at #7 Texas A&M (2/22/25) and #6 Alabama (3/1/25).
• TOP FIVE: In that same four-year span, UT has six AP top-five victories, tied with Alabama and Arizona for the most in the country. Only five other schools have even four: Iowa State (five), Florida (four), Gonzaga (four), Kentucky (four) and Purdue (four).
HIGH-CALIBER COMPANY
• Tennessee and Kansas are the only two schools to earn an AP top-five ranking in each of the last four seasons (2021-25). Only two others, Arizona and Purdue, entered 2024-25 with a three-year streak.
• The Volunteers are one of only four teams to reach the AP top six in each of the past five seasons, alongside Alabama, Houston and Kansas.
• UT is one of just five programs to reach the AP top six in at least six of the last seven seasons (2018- 25), alongside Duke, Gonzaga, Kansas and Kentucky. Those are also the only five schools to enter the AP top five in at least five different years in that stretch.
• The Vols are among only eight teams to reach the No. 1 spot in the AP Poll in at least two of the last seven seasons (2018-25), joining Auburn, Baylor, Duke, Gonzaga, Houston, Kansas and Purdue.
• Over that same seven-year stretch (2018-25), UT is also one of seven teams to claim an AP top-two position in at least three seasons, alongside Baylor, Connecticut, Duke, Gonzaga, Kansas and Purdue.
• UT is one of seven schools with an AP top-20 ranking in each of the last eight years (2017-25), alongside Duke, Gonzaga, Kansas, Kentucky, Michigan State and North Carolina. Just two others—Houston and Purdue—have even been AP top-25 each season.
• Additionally, over the last three years (2022-25), the Vols are one of just six teams to reach the AP top two in multiple seasons, joining Alabama, Connecticut, Duke, Kansas and Purdue.
QUITE THE CAMPAIGN
• Tennessee's eight AP top-25 triumphs this season are the most in program history, eclipsing the seven it had in both 2023-24 and 2021-22. It has now notched at least seven such victories in three of the last four years after never previously doing so.
• The Vols have six AP top-15 wins this year, matching 2021-22 for the most in school history. They had five in 2022-23, giving them five-plus in three of the last four campaigns after never before hitting that mark.
• This is the fifth time in program history, including the third in Rick Barnes' tenure, Tennessee has recorded at least three AP top-seven victories in a single season. It won four in both 2021-22 and 1976-77, as well as three apiece in 2018-19 and 2009-10.
• Tennessee has 25-plus wins in a season for the ninth time, including the sixth under Rick Barnes (all in the last eight years) and the fourth in a row. It won 25-plus games in the regular season for the third time, joining 2018-19 (27-4) and 2007-08 (28-3).
TOP-TIER TRIUMPHS
• Tennessee is 42-41 (.506) against AP top-25 foes under Rick Barnes, including 26-14 (.650) in its past 40 such games (since 1/22/22).
• The Volunteers are 36-33 (.522) versus AP top-20 teams in Barnes' tenure, including 22-10 (.688) in their last 32 such affairs (since 1/22/22).
• UT is 28-26 (.519) against AP top-15 teams in the Barnes era, including 21-9 (.700) in its last 30 such games (since 12/22/21).
• The Vols own a 16-15 (.516) record versus AP top-10 foes under Barnes, including a 14-9 (.609) mark in their last 23 such contests (since 3/2/19) and an 11-6 (.647) tally in their last 17 (since 12/22/21).
• UT is 10-9 (.526) against AP top-five opponents in Barnes' tenure, including 6-4 (.600) in its last 10 such affairs (since 2/15/22). It is 8-2 (.800) versus AP top-five SEC teams, including 7-1 (.875) in its last eight such outings (since 3/2/19).
STRONG IN THE STANDINGS
• Tennessee finished fourth in the SEC this season. It marked the program's seventh top-four finish in the last eight years, including its fifth in a row.
• The Volunteers are the only team in the league to place top-four each of the past five seasons. Only three others have done it multiple times: Alabama (four), Auburn (three) and Kentucky (three).
• UT is also the only school to place top-four in seven of the last eight campaigns. Just three others have done it even four times: Auburn (six), Kentucky (six) and Alabama (four).
SENSATIONAL SIX
• Tennessee, Drake, Duke, Gonzaga, Houston and Saint Mary's are the only schools with 25-plus wins each of the past four seasons (2021-22 to 2024-25).
• Only two others, Arizona and Purdue, can even join that list.
TENNESSEE TORCHBEARER
• On 3/7/25, Chancellor Donde Plowman surpised Jahmai Mashack before a team film session by naming him a Torchbearer, which is the highest student honor conferred by the University of Tennessee. He was one of just 10 individuals to receive the prestigious distinction in 2025.
• Mashack is the fourth men's basketball to win the award, joining Carl Langschmidt (1953), Byrl Logan (1939) and Charles Lucas (1931).
• Mashack and swimmer Griffin Hadley, a fellow 2025 winner, are the first male non-football student-athletes to receive the honor in 72 years, dating to Langschmidt. The only other male student-athletes to garner it during that time are football standouts Joshua Dobbs (2016) and Trey Smith (2020).
• The award is given for academic achievement and outstanding commitment to others as demonstrated by the student's various activities and significant contributions to the university and the community.Â
