Tennessee basketball moved up four-spots to No. 13 in this week’s AP Poll following the Vols’ 2-1 week at the Players Era Festival. The Vols moved up three-spots to No. 13 in this week’s USA Today Coaches Poll.
Rick Barnes’ 11th Tennessee squad is the second highest ranked SEC team in this week’s AP Poll. The Vols came in behind No. 12 Alabama and came ahead of No. 15 Florida, No. 16 Vanderbilt, No. 20 Auburn and No. 25 Arkansas.
Tennessee is coming off a strong week at the Players Era in Las Vegas. The Vols dominated an overmatched Rutgers team in the first game of the event before knocking off Houston 76-73 in a back-and-forth thriller. Tennessee’s week ended with a sour note as the Vols fumbled a double-digit second half lead and fell to Kansas 81-76.
A number of different Tennessee players stepped up over the course of the three games. Bishop Boswell was stellar a defensive stopper and with his ability to make the right play on the offensive end of the court. Vanderbilt transfer Jaylen Carey played the best basketball in his Tennessee tenure during the games against Houston and Kansas.
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Over the course of the three games, Ja’Kobi Gillespie averaged 21.7 points and four assists per game. Five-star freshman Nate Ament averaged 16.3 points, 6.3 rebounds and 2.7 assists over the three games despite battling foul trouble and making just one shot from the field against Houston.
Tennessee is back on the road this week with two more challenging matchups. The Vols go on the road to face Syracuse on Tuesday night as part of the ACC-SEC Challenge. Tennessee then faces No. 14 Illinois in Nashville on Saturday night.
The Vols have one more marquee non conference matchup after this week when they host No. 6 Louisville at Thompson-Boling Arena at Food City Center on Tuesday, Dec. 16.
But next up for Tennessee is a road trip to Syracuse. Tipoff between the Vols and Orange is at 7 p.m. ET on Tuesday night. ESPN2 is broadcasting the game.
