Tennessee basketball hosts Tarleton State on Thursday night before a 12 day hiatus around Christmas and New Years.
The Vols enter their penultimate non conference matchup on a four-game winning streak and coming off a neutral site win over North Carolina State on Saturday night.
Here’s everything to know about the matchup.
More From RTI: Tennessee Basketball Moves Back Into Top 10 In AP Poll
How to Watch – No. 8 Tennessee (8-3) vs. Tarleton State (8-2)
- Start Time: 6:30 p.m. ET/5:30 p.m. CT
- Location: Thompson-Boling Area at Food City Center
- TV: SEC Network+. PxP: Andy Brock. CC: Steve Hamer. Sideline: Sarah Detwiler
- Online Streaming: Watch ESPN
- Radio (Knoxville): The Vol Network/The Vol Network App
Betting Lines
Tennessee -22.5 Tarleton State
Over/Under: 139.5
Tennessee -21 Tarleton State
Over/Under: 141
What Rick Barnes Said About The Texans
On the characteristics of a Billy Gillespie coached team
“Very aggressive, you know, going to fight you, going to fight every pass, going to work hard to get through passing lanes. They do a lot out floppy where they can get into a high-low game and do some different things. But hard-nosed. Again, they’re very scrappy, different ball-screen coverages, but we’ll really try to deny them. Now, they will be a, I think, a heavy gap team against us, I think. And they’ll be in a gap, not so much to slow you down, but more there to really try to take the ball away from you. So our perimeter movement’s going to be important.”
On if he has any good Billy Gillespie stories from their Texas and Texas A&M days
“No, just, you know, I’ve got a lot of respect for Billy. You know, he did a great job at A&M. When he went to A&M they really, first time probably, they made a real commitment to basketball and he did a great job there building it. And obviously moving on to Kentucky, from meeting Billy when he was on Bill Self’s staff and through the years, he’s a terrific basketball coach. Every time I think of him is kind of what I said, you know you’re in for a fight. I don’t care where he is, what he does. That’s his personality, that’s who he is, and he has a great way of getting that across to his players.”
Probable Starters
Tennessee (via UT Game Notes)
Tarleton State (via TSU Game Notes)
Team Statistics (via Sports Reference)
Tennessee:
Tarleton State:
Stat Leaders
Tennessee:
Points: Dalton Knecht — 16.5 PPG, 46.3 FG%, 38.0 3PT%
Rebounds: Jonas Aidoo — 7.2 RPG, 5.0 DRPG, 2.2 ORPG
