Hoops Preview: #3 Tennessee vs. #11 Michigan in 2nd Round of NCAA Tournament

The No. 3 seed Tennessee basketball team continues NCAA Tournament action Saturday in Indianapolis, taking on No. 11 seed Michigan in the Round of 32 at 5:15 p.m. ET inside Gainbridge Fieldhouse.

Fans can catch Saturday’s game on CBS and online or on any mobile device through the CBS Sports app. Ian Eagle (play-by-play), Jim Spanarkel (analysis) and Jamie Erdahl (reporter) will have the call.

Fans can also listen live on their local Vol Network affiliate to hear Bob Kesling and Bert Bertelkamp calling the action. A national radio broadcast is also available on channel 135 on Sirius and channel 202 SiriusXM.

On Thursday, Tennessee (27-7) grabbed a first-round NCAA Tournament win over No. 14 seed Longwood, 88-56. The Vols shot a season-high 60 percent from the field during the win (33-for-55), including 58 percent on 3-pointers (14-for-24).

Santiago Vescovi was one of five double-figure scorers for Tennessee, pouring in a team-high 18 points on 6-for-8 shooting from 3-point range. Vescovi’s six made 3-pointers tied for the most ever by a Vol in an NCAA Tournament game. Vescovi also set the Tennessee program record for best 3-point percentage in an NCAA Tournament game (.750).

Josiah-Jordan James (17), John Fulkerson (15), Kennedy Chandler (13) and Zakai Zeigler (10) also scored in double figures.

No. 11 seed Michigan defeated No. 6 seed Colorado State in its first round game on Thursday, 75-63.

Saturday marks the third time that Tennessee and Michigan have matched up in the NCAA Tournament since 2011. The Wolverines defeated the Vols in both the 2011 Round of 64 and the 2014 Sweet Sixteen, with the 2014 meeting also taking place in Indianapolis.

With a win Saturday, Tennessee would advance to the Sweet Sixteen, which is set for Thursday in San Antonio, Texas. Time and television network will be determined following the conclusion of this weekend’s games.

SATURDAY’S MATCHUP
• Tennessee’s all-time series with Michigan is tied, 5-5. That includes two NCAA Tournament clashes, both won by the Wolverines (2011 and 2014). The 2014 meeting took place in the Sweet Sixteen at Indy’s Lucas Oil Stadium.
• Rick Barnes has faced Michigan only once as a head coach, as his Texas squad fell to the Wolverines in the third round of the 2014 NCAA Tournament in Milwaukee.
• The Volunteers are 24-36 all-time against current members of the Big Ten, while Barnes is 30-31 vs. Big Ten opposition.
• Arizona and North Carolina both are common opponents for the Vols and Wolverines this season. Tennessee defeated both of those squads, while Michigan lost to both away from Ann Arbor.
• The Vols recruited recent UM signee Jett Howard, who is the son of Michigan head coach Juwan Howard. UT also recruited UM freshman wing Caleb Houstan.

STORYLINES
• Thursday’s Longwood victory was Tennessee’s 150th win under head coach Rick Barnes.
• Tennessee is riding an eight-game win streak and has won 13 of its last 14 contests.
• The Vols set a school record for team field-goal percentage in an NCAA Tournament game by shooting .600 (33 of 55) Thursday.
• Santiago Vescovi tied the UT record for 3-point makes in an NCAA Tournament game with six against Longwood.
• Through four postseason games, Tennessee is allowing an average of just 56.8 points per game.
• According to KenPom, the Vols rank second in the nation in adjusted defensive efficiency, allowing only 86.0 points per 100 possessions.
• The Volunteers captured their first SEC Tournament championship since 1979 last weekend in Tampa.
• True freshman Kennedy Chandler was named SEC Tournament MVP.

LOOKING AHEAD
• A Tennessee win Saturday would give the Vols their ninth all-time Sweet Sixteen appearance, and their second of the Barnes era.
• A triumph over the Wolverines also would give this Tennessee squad its seventh victory during the month of March. That would tie the 2013-14 (Sweet Sixteen) and 2010-11 (Elite Eight) teams for the most March wins in program history.
• Potential Round of 16 opponents are Villanova, Ohio State, Loyola Chicago or Delaware.
• The Volunteers’ first loss this season was a neutral-site setback to Villanova at the Hall of Fame Tip-Off at Mohegan Sun Resort in Connecticut on Nov. 20, 71-53.
• Tennessee’s last meetings against both Ohio State and Loyola Chicago came in the NCAA Tournament. The Vols beat the Buckeyes in the 2010 Sweet Sixteen in St. Louis, and Tennessee fell to Loyola Chicago in the 2018 Round of 32 in Dallas.

ABOUT MICHIGAN
• No. 11 seed Michigan (18-14) enters Saturday’s Round of 32 matchup off a 75-63 win over No. 6 seed Colorado State Thursday.
• Ranked No. 6 in the nation in the preseason AP Top 25, Michigan finished 11-9 in regular-season Big Ten play this season.
• The Wolverines entered the NCAA Tournament 5-10 in Quadrant 1 games and also had three losses in Quadrant 2 and one in Quadrant 3.
• Michigan has alternated wins and losses for its past 11 games, having not won or lost consecutive games since Feb. 8 and Feb. 10.
• Wolverines sophomore center Hunter Dickinson was a second-team All-Big Ten selection and leads Michigan statistically in scoring (18.4 ppg), rebounding (8.3 rpg) and blocked shots (1.5 bpg).
• Dickinson has recorded 10 double-doubles this season.
• Graduate guard Eli Brooks is Michigan’s second-leading scorer, averaging 12.4 points per game while shooting 38.6 percent from 3-point range.
• Freshman forward Moussa Diabate was named to the Big Ten All-Freshman team. Diabate averages 9.0 points and 6.0 rebounds per game.
• Michigan entered the NCAA Tournament ranked No. 33 overall by KenPom—No. 19 in adjusted offensive efficiency and No. 91 in adjusted defensive efficiency.
• DeVante’ Jones, Michigan’s starting point guard and third-leading scorer, missed Thursday’s first-round game due to concussion. His status for Saturday’s game is unknown.

TENNESSEE IN THE NCAA TOURNAMENT
• The Vols are making their 24th all-time appearance in the NCAA Tournament. The Big Orange own a 23-24 (.489) NCAA Tournament record.
• The Vols are 1-0 in the First Four, 14-7 in first-round games, 7-8 in second-round games, 1-0 in third-round action, 1-7 in regional semifinals, 0-1 in regional finals and 0-1 in the now-defunct regional consolation round.
• This is the program’s fourth NCAA berth under seventh-year head coach Rick Barnes.
• Tennessee’s 24 NCAA Tournament berths tie LSU for fourth-most among SEC teams.
• Since 2010, among SEC programs, only Kentucky (31) and Florida (19) have won more NCAA Tournament games than Tennessee (10).

SCHWARTZ LATEST BARNES ASSISTANT TO EARN HEAD COACHING OPPORTUNITY
• On Wednesday, March 16, sixth-year Tennessee associate head coach Michael Schwartz was named the head coach at East Carolina.
• For Schwartz’s first two seasons at Tennessee, current ECU AD Jon Gilbert was an executive associate AD at Tennessee. Gilbert’s son, Kent, is a sophomore walk-on on this Tennessee team.
• In the seven years Rick Barnes has been at Tennessee, he has now seen five of his assistant coaches earn Division I head coaching opportunities: Chris Ogden (Texas Arlington), Rob Lanier (Georgia State), Kim English (George Mason), Desmond Oliver (ETSU) and, most recently, Schwartz (East Carolina).