PARADISE ISLAND, Bahamas — Coming off a win over No. 18 Purdue, Tennessee continues play at the Bad Boy Mowers Battle 4 Atlantis on Thanksgiving Day when it takes on fifth-ranked Villanova in the first of two tournament semifinals. Thursday’sgame tips at 12:30 p.m. ET on ESPN.
Tennessee (3-0) is meeting Villanova (4-0) for the first time since 2010 when the two programs met in New York City at the NIT Season Tip-Off. The Vols defeated the seventh-ranked Wildcats, 78-68, to claim the early-season tournament title.
Under the direction of 17-year head coach Jay Wright, Villanova advanced to Thursday’s semifinal after defeating Western Kentucky 66-58 in its opening game. The Wildcats got a combined 35 points from juniors Jalen Brunson (18 points) and Mikal Bridges (17). Bridges is Villanova’s leading scorer through four games, averaging 18.0 ppg to narrowly edge Brunson’s 17.8 ppg. The Wildcats picked up early season wins over Columbia, Nicholls and Lafayette before trekking to the Bahamas.
Following a win over 18th-ranked Purdue on Wednesday, the Vols will be looking to claim back-to-back wins over ranked opponents for the first time since the 2006-07 season. Grant Williams scored a game-high 22 points and added eight rebounds to power Tennessee to Wednesday’s victory, while Lamonte Turner added 17 points and Kyle Alexander recorded his first career double-double with 13 points and 11 boards.
THE VILLANOVA SERIES
- Overall: Villanova leads, 2-1
- In Knoxville: None
- In Philadelphia: Villanova leads, 2-0
- Neutral Sites: UT leads, 1-0
- Current Streak: UT has won one straight
- Last Meeting: UT won, 78-68, on Nov. 26, 2010, in New York, N.Y. for the NIT Season Tip-Off
- Barnes vs. Purdue: 9-7
- Barnes vs. Wright: 2-1
ABOUT VILLANOVA
- Founded in 1842 and located in Villanova, Pennsylvania, Villanova University is a member of the Big East Conference.
- The Wildcats are ranked fifth in this week’s AP poll and third in the coaches’ poll.
- Coach Jay Wright is in his 17th season with the Wildcats and his 24th season as a head coach.
- With hopes of capturing a second-consecutive national championship, Villanova posted a 32-4 record last year and won the Big East Championship to earn the No. 1 overall seed in the NCAA Tournament before falling in the second round to Wisconsin.
- This season, the Wildcats are charged with replacing the production of a senior trio (Josh Hart, Kris Jenkins and Darryl Reynolds) that led the program to its winningest era in school history (129-17).
- Junior guard Jalen Brunson (14.7 ppg, 4.1 apg, 54 FG%) is the team’s leading returning scorer from last season. He is joined by redshirt junior guard/forward Mikal Bridges (9.8 ppg, 4.6 rpg), who is one of the major offensive threats for the Wildcats.
- The Vols and Villanova have met just three times previously, with VU owning a 2-1 edge. In the last matchup between the two schools, Tennessee claimed the series’ only neutral-site clash, taking a 78-68 victory over the 7th-ranked Wildcats in the championship game of the 2010 NIT Season Tip-Off in Madison Square Garden.
- Vols head coach Rick Barnes owns a 33-37 record against current Big East teams and is 9-7 against Villanova, with the majority of those contests coming when Barnes coached at Providence.
LAST MEETING VS. VILLANOVA
- On Nov. 26, 2011, the 24th-ranked Vols won their first-ever game against No. 7 Villanova to claim the NIT Season Tip-Off title.
- Scotty Hopson scored 18 points for Tennessee (5-0), while senior point guard Melvin Goins was the key late for the Volunteers, scoring seven of his nine points and coming up with two big steals in the final 2:17.
- UT’s defense held strong against the Wildcats’ backcourt, which was considered on of the best in the country. Corey Fisher finished with three points on 1-of-10 shooting from the field for the Wildcats (5-1), while Maalik Wayns had 11 points on 3-for-11 shooting and Corey Stokes had 11 on 3-for-9 shooting.
- Tennessee took the lead for good on a rebound basket by Hopson with 11:52 to play. Villanova was never able to get any kind of a run going as its three-guard offense couldn’t get going against the Volunteers.
- The Wildcats closed within 56-55 on a basket by Dominic Cheek with 7:26 to play. The Volunteers went on a 7-0 run capped by a 3-pointer by Cameron Tatum with 5:35 left.
- The closest Villanova could get the rest of the way was five points. Hopson, the tournament MVP, scored on a drive to make it a 7-point game and Goins then stole the ball from Wayns and went in for a breakaway layup.
- Tatum had 17 points for the Volunteers while freshman Tobias Harris had 15 points and nine rebounds.
- Tennessee, which beat Virginia Commonwealth 77-72 in the semifinals, had a 10-point lead in the first half and led 35-30 at halftime. The Wildcats opened the second half with a 9-2 run to take their first lead of the game.
VILLANOVA CONNECTIONS
- UT true freshman Zach Kent and Villanova redshirt sophomore Tim Delaney both played at Blair Academy in Blairstown, New Jersey, in high school. However, the two were not on the same team together, as Kent transferred in as a senior.
-UT Athletics
