KNOXVILLE, Tenn. – The Tennessee men’s basketball team returns to SEC play and home to Thompson-Boling Arena for a Tuesday night matchup with Texas A&M. Tipoff is set for 6:30 p.m. ET and the action can be seen on SEC Network.
Tuesday’s game can be seen on SEC Network, online through WatchESPN and on any mobile device through the ESPN App. Fans can access WatchESPN at espn.com/watch. Dave Neal and Daymeon Fishback will have the call.
Fans can also listen live on their local Vol Network affiliate to hear Bob Kesling and Bert Bertlekamp describing the action.
Last time out, the Vols fell just short on the road at third-ranked Kansas, 74-68. A furious late charge, led by 19 second half points from senior Jordan Bowden, a career-high 24 points from junior Yves Pons and a third double-double (15 pts, 12 rebs.) in five games from John Fulkerson brought the Kansas lead to as few as three points.
Pons’s 24 points were the most by a Vol against Kansas and Fulkerson’s 12 rebounds were also the most by a UT player in the five-game series with the Jayhawks.
Tennessee is currently riding a three-game win streak against Texas A&M and a five-game win streak against teams from the state of Texas.
A win would extend Tennessee’s home win streak to three consecutive games and give the Vols three straight wins in SEC action.
Up next, Tennessee hits the road for the first of two consecutive road matchups when it takes on Mississippi State on Saturday afternoon. Tipoff is slated for 1 p.m. ET on ESPNU.
THE SERIES
• Tennessee leads the all-time series with Texas A&M, 8-5, dating to 1951. The Vols have won each of the last three meetings.
• The Vols have a 4-3 edge when the series is played in Knoxville.
• This is the lone regular-season meeting between these teams.
A WIN WOULD…
• Extend Tennessee’s home win streak to three games.
• Give UT a matching three-game win streak during SEC play.
• Give the Volunteers a five-game win streak over teams from the state of Texas.
• Stretch UT’s win streak over the Aggies to four straight games.
STORYLINES
• This week one year ago, Tennessee was ranked No. 1 in both major polls.
• Rick Barnes once interviewed first-year Aggies head coach Buzz Williams for an assistant coach position during Barnes’ tenure as the head coach at Texas.
• UT is holding opponents to 55.4 points per game at Thompson-Boling Arena this season.
• In Tennessee’s seven games since the calendar flipped to 2020, junior Yves Pons has totaled 23 blocked shots (3.3 bpg).
• Vols forward John Fulkerson has three double-doubles in UT’s last five games and is averaging 13.2 points and 8.8 rebounds during that span.
• In his first five college games, true freshman Santiago Vescovi averaged one turnover every 4.4 minutes played. But in the last two games, he has averaged one turnover every 27.5 minutes (two turnovers in 55 minutes).
LAYUP LINES
• Tennessee leads the SEC in both scoring defense (59.8 ppg, 10th nationally) and field-goal percentage defense (.382, 17th nationally).
• During SEC play, junior forward John Fulkerson leads the team in scoring (11.3 ppg), rebounding (7.0 rpg) and steals (1.3 spg) while shooting .625 from the field and .900 from the free-throw line.
• The Vols are on pace to finish the regular season with 182 blocks. That would be the fifth-highest single-season total in program history.
• Junior forward Yves Pons has blocked at least one shot in every game this season. He leads the SEC and ranks 18th nationally with 2.7 bpg. His 3.3 bpg during SEC play also leads the league.
• Freshmen Josiah-Jordan James (12-25) and Santiago Vescovi (13-30) combine to shoot .454 from 3-point range during SEC play.
ABOUT TEXAS A&M
• Texas A&M, like Tennessee, is coming off a loss in the 2020 Big 12/SEC Challenge. The Aggies fell to Oklahoma State, 73-62, at home Saturday afternoon. The loss dropped A&M to 9-9 overall in 2019-20.
• In SEC play, A&M has had an up-and-down beginning to league action. Victories over Ole Miss, Vanderbilt and Missouri were bright spots, while back-to-back home losses against LSU and South Carolina see the Aggies owning a 3-3 SEC record heading into the latter stages of the season.
• Texas A&M is led by first-year head coach Buzz Williams. Williams comes to College Station after leading Virginia Tech to three consecutive NCAA Tournament berths and its first Sweet Sixteen appearance since the field expanded to its current format.
• So far this season, the Aggies have been led by senior forward Josh Nebo. Nebo currently leads the Aggies in scoring (12.5 ppg) and rebounding (7.1 rpg), while his team-leading 2.5 blocks per game ranks second in the SEC, just 0.2 blocks behind Tennessee forward Yves Pons.
• Junior guard Savion Flagg has also been one of A&M’s top producers, averaging 10.7 ppg, which ranks second on the team, while dishing off a team-leading 2.5 assists per game. Flagg, like Nebo, has also been effective on the defensive end, averaging 1.1 steals per contest, the team’s second-best mark.
• Texas A&M’s mascot, Reveille got its name after the original Reveille was picked up by members of the 1931 A&M band. The dog began barking to the sound of a trumpet call known in the military as a Reveille, hence the dog’s given name.
LAST TIME VS. TEXAS A&M
• With a 93-76 victory at Texas A&M on Feb. 2, 2019, No. 1 Tennessee set a program record for consecutive wins at 16 games.
• The Vols had one of their best offensive performances of the season, shooting a blazing-hot 65 percent from the field, including a 74 percent (31-of-42) mark on two-point field-goal attempts. Tennessee also assisted on a season-high 28 baskets in the game.
• Jordan Bone had impressive outing at the point, dropping 18 points on 7-of-7 shooting from the floor with 10 assists. He became just the third Vol ever to have three points/assists double-doubles in a season.
• Grant Williams also finished with a double-double, posting a game-high 22 points, 10 rebounds, four assists and two blocks.
• Lamonté Turner had 19 points and seven assists in the win, while Jordan Bowden dropped 16 points. Admiral Schofield finished with 14 points.
• During the final 7:24 in the game, the Vols pulled away from the Aggies with a 15-4 run en route to the most points allowed by Texas A&M at home on the year.
• Tennessee jumped out to an early 28-9 lead after hitting 12 of its first 14 shots.
• Tennessee shot 67 percent (20-of-30) from the floor to help it take a 46-39 lead into halftime.
• The win gave Tennessee 20 wins by Feb. 2, marking the earliest the Vols had ever hit that milestone.
IF IT WEREN’T FOR TENNESSEE, TEXAS WOULD BE “NORTH MEXICO”
• There can be no doubt Texas owes a great debt of gratitude for its statehood to the fierce men from Tennessee.
• Before the Alamo fell, 33 Tennesseans, the largest number of defenders provided by any state — nearly four times as many as from Texas — kept Mexican General Santa Anna’s overwhelming army at bay for 13 days against unbelievable odds.
• On March 6, 1836, the brave Tennessee Volunteers and the other Alamo defenders were overrun and breathed their last.
• However, the crucial days the Volunteers slowed down the Mexican army gave another Tennessean, Sam Houston, enough time to gallop through Texas raising an army to defend what would become the Lone Star State. This army defeated Santa Anna in no small part because of the contributions of Tennessee’s Volunteers.
MEMORABLE VOL PERFORMANCES AGAINST TEXAS A&M
• Grant Williams tied Tennessee’s all-time, single-game record for blocked shots with six in UT’s 2018 win over the Aggies in College Station. He also added 12 points and five rebounds in the victory.
• In the longest game in Tennessee basketball history, the Vols posted an epic 93-85 four-overtime win at Texas A&M Feb. 23, 2013, in the first game between the teams as conference foes. Trae Golden tallied 32 points for the Vols, while Jarnell Stokes totaled 20 points and 16 rebounds, and Jordan McRae scored 23.
• Tony White posted the highest points total by a Vol in the series when he scored 34 vs. the Aggies in an 88-70 UT home win on Dec. 7, 1985.
• Herb Neff (13 pts, 14 rebs) and Charlie Hipsher (11 pts, 12 rebs) each logged double-doubles for Tennessee as the Vols downed Texas A&M 60-52 in the first-ever meeting between the programs on Dec. 15, 1951, in Knoxville.
• Houston native Brandon Crump averaged 16.0 points, 9.0 rebounds and 2.0 blocks in two career games against the Aggies.
BARNES VERY FAMILIAR WITH A&M
• As a head coach, Rick Barnes has faced Texas A&M 36 times, compiling a 28-8 (.778) record.
• His Texas teams went 23-7 vs. the Aggies from 1999-2015, and he also led Clemson to a 2-0 record against A&M in the mid-90s.
• The only teams Barnes has faced more than the Aggies are Oklahoma (41 meetings), Oklahoma State (40), Baylor (39) and Texas Tech (37).
AGGIES KNOW ENGLISH
• As a college star at Missouri from 2008-12, Vols assistant coach Kim English faced Texas A&M six times. He averaged 11.3 points in those six games, but his Tigers only won twice.
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