Tennessee basketball hosts No. 22 Ole Miss at Thompson-Boling Arena at Food City Center on Saturday night for its SEC opener.
After a strong non conference slate, the real show begins on Saturday with Tennessee begins its chase for the SEC regular season crown.
Here’s everything to know about the top 25 matchup.
More From RTI: Tennessee Announces A Sell-Out For Ole Miss Game
How to Watch – No. 5 Tennessee (10-3, 0-0 SEC) vs. No. 22 Ole Miss (13-0, 0-0 SEC)
- Start Time: 6 p.m. ET/5 p.m. CT
- Location: Thompson-Boling Area at Food City Center
- TV: SEC Network. PxP: John Schriffen. CC: Dane Bradshaw.
- Online Streaming: Watch ESPN
- Radio (Knoxville): The Vol Network/The Vol Network App
Betting Lines
Tennessee -12.5 Ole Miss
Over/Under: 142.5
Tennessee -14 Ole Miss
Over/Under: 144
What Rick Barnes Said About Ole Miss
On Ole Miss guard Matthew Murrell
“I think he’s been effective every year. I mean, we recruited Matt Murrell, you know, and his body’s in great shape. He certainly has worked on his shot through the years. He defends, he’s a good player. He’s just like, I’m sure they say the same thing about Josiah and Santi about being around for a long time. And because of that, they’ve been through a lot of tough situations. They can handle most of them. I don’t think it’s any different with Murrell.”
On if 13 games is a big enough sample size to get a scout on Ole Miss with a new coach in Chris Beard
“Oh yeah, there is no doubt. You start the season and pretty much you feel prepared going into your first game even when you go back and take some stuff from last year and maybe even and exhibition game you get a feel. I can only (say) Chris Beard has done just an incredible job everywhere he has ever been. You know what his teams are. They take on his personality. They are going to play really hard. They execute. They definitely aren’t going to beat themselves. They don’t turn the ball over. He really does a terrific job of getting his players in position to where they can be at their best. Just have the utmost respect for him because I have known him for a long time and I know how he has worked his way up to become one of the best in the business and have a lot of admiration for him and what he has done everywhere he has ever been.”
On Ole Miss being able to spread teams out
“Not only can he spread you out, but they got some guys inside you got to deal with. And they’ve got two terrific shot blockers. So, again, a lot of credit goes to the players, but again, Coach Beard is just what I said earlier, is just putting them in a great position to be effective and hard to defend.”
Probable Starters
Tennessee (via UT Game Notes)
Ole Miss (via OM Game Notes)
Tennessee:
Ole Miss:
Stat Leaders
Tennessee:
Points: Dalton Knecht — 15.6 PPG, 45.1 FG%, 36.2 3PT%
Rebounds: Josiah-Jordan James — 7 RPG, 5.5 DRPG, 1.5 ORPG
