The seventh-ranked Tennessee men’s basketball team heads north this weekend to take on No. 13 Maryland on Sunday at the Basketball Hall of Fame Invitational in Brooklyn, New York.
Fans can catch Sunday’s game on FOX Sports 1, online at FOXsports.com or on any mobile device through the FOX Sports app. Jason Benetti (play-by-play) and Jim Jackson (analysis) will have the call.
ADVERTISINGFans can also listen live on their local Vol Network affiliate to hear Bob Kesling and Bert Bertelkamp describing the action.
Tennessee (8-1) won its seventh consecutive game on Wednesday, defeating Eastern Kentucky, 84-49. The Vols held the Colonels to just 22.1 percent shooting (15-for-68) on the evening, the second-lowest mark by an opponent during the Rick Barnes era and lowest since Nov. 6, 2018. Freshman forward Julian Phillips led the way for Tennessee with his first career double-double, tallying 16 points and 10 rebounds.
Sunday marks the Vols’ fourth trip to New York City under Barnes and third appearance at the Brooklyn Nets’ Barclays Center. It also marks Tennessee’s fifth all-time meeting with Maryland—fourth at a neutral site—and first since 1984.
Following Sunday’s game in Brooklyn, Tennessee is back on the road—heading west to take on Arizona in Tucson on Saturday, Dec. 17. Tip-off is set for 10:30 p.m. ET on ESPN2.
THE SERIES
• Tennessee is designated as the visiting team Sunday.
• This is Tennessee’s fourth trip to New York City under head coach Rick Barnes and third appearance at the Barclays Center (2015 Barclays Center Classic, 2018 NIT Season Tip-Off).
• Tennessee is 2-2 all-time against Maryland and 24-37 all-time vs. current members of the Big Ten.
• The last time Tennessee and Maryland met, Len Bias led the Terps to victory. See “Last Meeting” note below.
• Vols sophomore guard Zakai Zeigler hails from nearby Long Island, New York, just east of Barclays Center. Freshman forward Tobe Awaka grew up in Hyde Park and graduated from Cardinal Hayes High School.
• This marks the fourth time in the last five seasons that Tennessee has been invited to participate in a neutral-site event administered by the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame.
SCOUTING REPORT
• All-SEC senior Santiago Vescovi has missed UT’s last two games with a left (shooting) shoulder sprain. Vescovi remains day-to-day.
• After shooting .440 from the field in UT’s first four games, Olivier Nkamhoua has shot .667 over the last five outings.
• The Volunteers own the best adjusted defensive efficiency in the country, allowing only 82.6 points per 100 possessions.
• Seven times this season, the Vols have held their opponents to 50 points or less. Tennessee has now done that 27 times during the Barnes era (2015-present).
• Zakai Zeigler (10th) and Santiago Vescovi (17th) both rank among the Division I top 20 in steals per game.
• Tennessee has yet to trail at the break this season and is outscoring its opponents 34.1 ppg to 23.0 ppg (+11.1 ppg) in first-half action.
BIG APPLE BITES
• Tennessee owns an all-time record of 9-19 in the state of New York. In New York City, the Vols are 7-18.
• The Vols own a 1-3 all-time record at Brooklyn’s Barclays Center, with previous appearances in 2015 (0-2) and 2018 (1-1).
• Tennessee has produced five basketball All-Americans from New York: Ed Wiener (Brooklyn), Ernie Grunfeld (Forest Hills), Bernard King (Brooklyn), Howard Wood (East Hampton) and current 76ers star Tobias Harris (Dix Hills).
• Tennessee’s all-time leading scorer and New York Knicks great Allan Houston is planning to attend Sunday’s game.
• Several current Brooklyn Nets stars suffered losses vs. Tennessee during their college careers: Kevin Durant (2006), Markieff Morris (2010), Joe Harris (2013), Ben Simmons (2016) and Nic Claxton (2018 and 2019).
• Durant played for Rick Barnes at Texas in 2006-07 and was the national player of the year.
ABOUT MARYLAND
• After winning eight straight games to start the season, Maryland (8-1) dropped its first contest of the year Tuesday night at Wisconsin, 64-59. Prior to falling to Wisconsin and a five-point win over No. 16 Illinois, the Terps had won each of their first seven games by at least 15 points.
• Maryland has already recorded two Quad 1 wins this season, taking down Miami and Illinois.
• The Terrapins are ranked No. 13 in this week’s AP Poll—their highest AP ranking since the final poll of the 2019-20 season. Maryland also debuted at No. 6 in the NCAA’s NET rankings prior to Tuesday’s loss.
• Maryland is in its first season of the Kevin Willard era. Willard stepped into the Maryland job following 12 seasons as the head coach at Seton Hall, where he posted a 225-161 (.583) record and led the Pirates to the 2016 Big East title and five NCAA Tournament appearances.
• Willard is the first head coach in Maryland’s program history to lead the team to an AP Top 25 ranking during his first season and also the first head coach in program history to lead the Terps to an 8-0 start.
• In his first season at Maryland after transferring from Charlotte, graduate guard Jahmir Young is the Terps’ leading scorer with a 15.3 ppg average. Young was a two-time first-team All-Conference USA selection at Charlotte and the league’s freshman of the year in 2020. Young has scored in double figures during all but one game this season and had a season-high 24 points during Maryland’s win over No. 16 Illinois.
• Maryland has four players averaging at least 12.0 points per game—Young (15.3), senior forward Donta Scott (14.7), senior guard Hakim Hart (12.8) and sophomore forward Julian Reese (12.3).
LAST MEETING WITH MARYLAND
• Maryland handed Tennessee a lopsided 72-49 loss at the Great Alaska Shootout in Anchorage on Nov. 25, 1984, capping a 1-2 showing at the event for the Vols under head coach Don DeVoe.
• Two-time ACC Player of the Year Len Bias (later the No. 2 overall pick in the 1986 NBA Draft) led the Terps with 25 points and 10 rebounds, while Keith Gatlin scored 14 and current ESPN hoops analyst Adrian Branch added 13 points.
• Tennessee great Tony White, then just a sophomore, logged 12 points and was the only Vol to score in double figures. White later went on to finish his career as UT’s second-leading scorer of all-time, with 2,219 points.
• Maryland shot .519 from the field (27-52), while the Vols shot .386 (22-57).
• Three Tennessee turnovers late in the first half enabled the Terps to score the last eight points of the half and take a 28-15 lead into the break.
VFLs MADE THEIR NAME IN NYC
• Three former Vols who advanced to play in the NBA made a big splash in New York City.
• Bernard King (native of Brooklyn), Ernie Grunfeld (native of Forest Hills) and Allan Houston each enjoyed years of success for the New York Knicks in roles as players and in the front office.
• Bernard King — Ranks second in Knicks franchise history with a 26.5 career scoring average … Led the Knicks in scoring three times, including a club record 32.9 points per game in 1984-85 … Owns the franchise record for single-season field-goal percentage (57.2 in 1983-84) … On Christmas Day 1984, he scored a Knicks franchise record 60 points against New Jersey … Holds the franchise record for points in a playoff game (46 in back-to-back games against Detroit in 1984) … Two-time All-NBA Team selection (1984 and 1985) while playing for the Knicks … Was one of seven all-time Knicks greats honored on Legends Awards Night at Madison Square Garden on May 27, 2009.
• Ernie Grunfeld — Spent 17 seasons with the Knicks as a player (1983-86), coach (1989-90) and broadcaster before eventually settling in as general manager (1991-99), where he built teams that appeared in the NBA Finals in 1995 and 1999 … later served as president and GM of the Washington Wizards.
• Allan Houston — Spent nine of his 12 professional seasons with the Knicks, finishing his career as one of the NBA’s best 3-point shooters … Fourth all-time leading scorer in Knicks history with 11,165 career points and is second with 921 3-pointers … Team captain for six seasons (1999-2005) … His running one-hander with 0.8 seconds to play beat top-seeded Miami in game five of the first round of the playoffs and set the Knicks on the path to the 1999 NBA Finals … In 2001, he set a club record with his 90.9 free throw percentage … Now works as the Knicks’ Vice President for Player Leadership & Development.
BACK IN THE DAY, BARNES WON BIG EAST TITLE IN THE BIG APPLE
• In his sixth and final season as the head coach at Providence, Rick Barnes led the Friars to the 1994 Big East Tournament championship at Madison Square Garden.
• After dispatching No. 5 seed Villanova and top-seeded and second-ranked UConn, fourth-seeded Providence defeated Georgetown, 74–64, in the title game on March 13.
• Michael Smith won the Dave Gavitt Trophy as tournament MVP, while fellow Friars Rob Phelps and Dickey Simpkins (who went on to win three NBA championships with the Chicago Bulls) also made the six-man All-Tournament Team.
• It was Providence’s first-ever Big East Tournament title. The Friars’ only other BET title came in 2014.
VOLS SEEKING 23rd RANKED WIN UNDER BARNES
• Under Rick Barnes, the Vols have logged 22 victories over AP ranked opponents, including 10 wins over top-10 teams.
FRESHMAN PHILLIPS LEADING SEC IN FREE-THROW ATTEMPTS
• Last season, NBA Draft pick Kennedy Chandler led the Vols in free-throw attempts with 99 (in 34 games).
• This season, UT’s new five-star freshman, Julian Phillips, leads the SEC and ranks 19th nationally with 61 attempts—through only nine games!
• Phillips attempts 6.8 free throws per game and is making them at a .787 clip.
• Using his current average of 5.3 FT makes per game, Phillips is on pace to make 165 free throws by the end of the regular season.
• After each of the last two seasons, Tennessee’s leader in free-throw attempts was selected in the NBA Draft: Chandler in 2022 and Keon Johnson in 2021.
VOLS LEAD NATION IN ASSIST RATE
• Tennessee has assisted on 71.6 percent of its made baskets thus far. That assist rate is tops among all Division I teams.
• Zakai Zeigler and Santiago Vescovi lead the way with 33 (3.7 apg) and 24 (3.4 apg) assists, respectively.
POLINSKY FAMILIAR WITH NETS, BARCLAYS CENTER
• Tennessee assistant coach Gregg Polinsky served in various scouting roles with the NBA’s Brooklyn Nets for 19 years—including tenures as director of college scouting (2004-08) and director of player personnel (2008-18). He first joined the organization in 1999.
-UT Athletics
