KNOXVILLE, Tenn. — Tennessee basketball coach Rick Barnes and sophomore forward Grant Williams visited with media Wednesday before practice to preview UT’s upcoming home game against seventh-ranked North Carolina on Sunday (3 p.m. ET, ESPN).
Sunday’s game is a sellout, and Tennessee is encouraging fans to “checker” Thompson-Boling Arena by wearing the color shirt designated for the section in which they’re seated. Fans can visit CheckerTBA.com to learn whether their section is designated to wear orange or white Sunday. A limited number of t-shirts will be provided for UT students who attend the game.
Fans also are encouraged to arrive early Sunday and be in their seats in time for tipoff, which is set for 3:01 p.m. ET.
The 20th-ranked Volunteers enter Sunday’s showdown with a 7-1 record. Tennessee’s only loss came against the now top-ranked Villanova Wildcats last month at the Battle 4 Atlantis tournament in the Bahamas.
Tennessee’s RPI sits at No. 8. The Tar Heels (No. 5) will be the fourth UT opponent this season that currently owns a top-50 RPI.
“When we started the year, we had one thing in mind and that was being as good as we can possibly be,” Barnes said Wednesday. “We knew that we had a schedule to start the season that would give us opportunities. If you go back to last year in Maui, we played two games against teams that ended up (making deep runs in the NCAA Tournament in Wisconsin and Oregon), but we weren’t able to get it done. I have talked about this with our league. We want to be known as the league gets seven or eight great teams in the tournament a year. You have to win early, though. I don’t think you can read too much into rankings and all of that at this time in the year. Our goal has to stay the same. We have to get better.”
Williams, who stands as Tennessee’s top scorer (16.1 ppg) this season and is a Charlotte native, said the Tar Heels will present a great challenge, and that he’s looking forward to the atmosphere in Thompson-Boling Arena this weekend.
“I see this as another game to try and win,” Williams said. “It will be a fun environment, and the game will be competitive. It’s the first hard sellout for us in two years. It’s should to be a fun time.”
Barnes’ full media session Wednesday can be viewed HERE, and complete video of Williams’ media session can be accessed HERE.
-UT Athletics
