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Hoops Central: Tennessee at #6 Kentucky

Posted on March 2, 2020

LEXINGTON, Ky. – The Tennessee men’s basketball team hits the road for a Tuesday night contest against sixth-ranked Kentucky inside Rupp Arena. Tipoff between the Vols and the Wildcats is set for 9 p.m. ET on ESPN.

Tuesday’s game can be seen on ESPN, online through WatchESPN, which can be accessed at espn.com/watch and on any mobile device through the ESPN App. Karl Ravech and Jimmy Dykes will have the call.

Fans can also listen in on their local Vol Network affiliate to hear Bob Kesling and Bert Bertlekamp describing the action.

Last time out, the Vols battled past SEC rival Florida, 63-58. UT was led by junior All-SEC candidate, John Fulkerson, who poured in a game-high 22 points, finishing 10-of-15 from the field, while knocking down his first career 3-point field goal.

Freshman Josiah-Jordan James was also incredibly productive, scoring 12 points, pulling in eight rebounds, dishing off a season-high-tying six assists, while rejecting two shot attempts and nabbing a steal on the defensive end.

The story of the day came from freshman Santiago Vescovi, who’s parents surprised him prior to tipoff. His parents and sister traveled through the night from Uruguay, arriving while Vescovi was completing his pregame routine.

A win on Tuesday night would be the Vols third triumph over an AP top-25 opponent this season and would mark the fifth victory for UT over a top-10 oppoenent during the Rick Barnes era. A victory would also be the Vols sixth ever win inside Rupp Arena and the second in the last three seasons.

Up next, the Vols return home to conclude their regular-season, with a home contest against Auburn. Saturday’s start time is slated for noon ET on either ESPN or ESPN2. Seniors Jordan Bowden and Lamonte Turner will be honored prior to tipoff as part of UT’s senior day ceremony.

THE SERIES
• Tennessee trails the all-time series with Kentucky, 156-73, dating to 1910.
• The Wildcats have a 91-17 edge when the series is played in Lexington.
• Overall, the Vols have won four of their last seven games vs. Kentucky.
• Kentucky posted a 77-64 win when these teams met in Knoxville on Feb. 8.

A WIN WOULD…
• Be Tennessee’s sixth victory in its last nine games against Kentucky.
• Be UT’s sixth all-time win at Rupp Arena.
• Give the Vols three wins this season over AP top 25 opponents.
• Be Tennessee’s fifth victory over a top-10 opponent during the Barnes era.

STORYLINES
• Through 16 SEC games, Tennessee and its opponents have both scored exactly 1,061 points.
• UT is 7-1 on Tuesdays this season.
• Senior shooting guard Jordan Bowden is Tennessee’s leading scorer in true road games, averaging a team-best 16.2 points per game while shooting .450 from the field.
• With 184 career 3-poiners, Jordan Bowden ranks tied for seventh on Tennessee’s all-time list.
• In Tennessee’s last five games, junior forward John Fulkerson is averaging a team-best 17.0 points while shooting .547 from the field.
• John Fulkerson also has drawn 37 fouls in UT’s last five games.
• During SEC play, freshmen account for 40.4 percent of Tennessee’s total minutes played.
• Tennessee freshman Drew Pember has missed UT’s last two games in concussion protocol and remains day-to-day.

LAYUP LINES
• During SEC play, Tennessee leads the league in blocks (5.9 bpg) and owns the conference’s best scoring defense (66.3 ppg).
• SEC Defensive Player of the Year candidate Yves Pons has blocked at least one shot in every game this season.
• Yves Pons leads the SEC and ranks 23rd nationally with 2.4 bpg. His 2.4 bpg during SEC play also leads the league.
• Barring injury or illness, senior guard Jordan Bowden will finish his career in the top five on Tennessee’s list for career games played. Tuesday will be the 131st game in which he’s appeared—tying him for sixth-most all-time.
• Tuesday will be Jordan Bowden’s 98th career start. Only 13 Vols have ever logged 100 starts.
• Tennessee ranks fourth nationally in average home attendance, drawing 18,854 fans per game this season.

ABOUT KENTUCKY
• Since losing on the road at then-16th-ranked Auburn on Feb. 1, Kentucky has ripped off eight consecutive SEC wins to bring home the 49th outright SEC championship in program history. The Wildcats currently sit at 24-5 overall and hold a league-best mark of 14-2 in SEC play.
• Sophomore guard Immanuel Quickley has been huge for the Wildcats, averaging 18.2 points per contest during their eight-game win streak. During this stretch of play, he’s eclipsed 20 points four times and scored a career-high 30 points on Tuesday night at Texas A&M. His 16.3 points per game overall leads UK and ranks eighth in the SEC.
• Big man Nick Richards has also been a massive bright spot for the Wildcats, ranking third on the team in scoring (13.9 ppg) and first in both rebounds (7.8 rpg) and blocks (2.2 bpg). His 7.8 boards per contest ranks third in the SEC and his 2.2 blocks per game trail only Tennessee’s Yves Pons for the most in the league.
• Kentucky also features the SEC’s leading assist man in Ashton Hagans. Hagans is currently averaging 6.4 helpers per game. Hagans also leads UK in steals, with 2.0 per game, a mark that ranks second in the SEC, trailing only Missouri’s Dru Smith.
• The University of Kentucky, founded in 1865, is one of just two land grant universities in the state of Kentucky. The other being NCAA Division II member Kentucky State. What was once the Agricultural and Mechanical College of Kentucky, UK now stands as the state’s largest university with an undergraduate enrollment of 22,136.

LAST TIME VS. KENTUCKY
• Tennessee had no answer for 15th-ranked Kentucky on Feb. 8, 2020, falling to the Wildcats, 77-64, at Thompson-Boling Arena.
• In his first-ever taste of the heated border rivalry, freshman Santiago Vescovi led the Vols offensively, tying his career-high for points with 18.
• Senior Jordan Bowden and junior John Fulkerson both added 16 points for the Big Orange, as Bowden finished with a team-high nine rebounds.
• Tennessee junior Yves Pons finished the game with four blocks, extending his streak of consecutive games with at least one block to 23.
• Immanuel Quickley led Kentucky with 18 points.
• In the first half, UK went on an 8-0 run to build an 11-point lead. The Vols responded with their own 5-0 scoring streak to make it a six-point game, 26-20.
• The Wildcats hung tough and built on their lead, but Fulkerson closed out the first half with a pair of free throws to cut Kentucky’s halftime lead to seven, 37-30.
• At the break, Fulkerson led the Vols with 12 points, eight of which came at the foul line. The junior also recorded four rebounds in the first 20 minutes.
• Coming out of the break, Fulkerson scored Tennessee’s first three points of the second half, and Vescovi followed with one of his four 3-pointers of the afternoon.
• With just more than nine minutes left in the contest, Vescovi hit his third triple of the half to bring the Vols within four points, but Kentucky had an answer for every charge Tennessee attempted to mount down the stretch.

MEMORABLE VOL PERFORMANCES AGAINST KENTUCKY
• Kevin Punter Jr.’s 27 points were the most scored by a Vol against the Kentucky in 10 years as Tennessee defeated the Wildcats, 84-77, Feb. 2, 2016, in Knoxville. The senior point guard made three 3-pointers and was 11-of-12 at the free-throw line.
• Chris Lofton reeled off 31 points, Major Wingate scored 12 and longtime NBA point guard C.J. Watson added 10 as No. 11 Tennessee beat Kentucky 75-67 at Rupp Arena on Feb. 7, 2006.
• Beating the Wildcats was three times as nice during the 1978-79 season. UT notched program win No. 900 in Lexington on Jan. 20, 66-55, before topping UK 101-84 in Knoxville on Feb. 17. Then the Vols won the 1979 SEC Tournament with a 75-69 win over UK in Birmingham, Alabama, on March 3. Current Vol Network radio analyst Bert Bertelkamp was a junior on that Tennessee team.
• As Bernard King walked off the court at Memorial Gym after a deflating 88-82 loss on Jan. 13, 1975, a Kentucky fan flipped a lit cigarette into the Tennessee legend’s hair. Outraged, King vowed he would never lose to Kentucky again. He vigorously carried out that promise, finishing his career 5-1 against the Wildcats.

SERIES HISTORY & NOTES
• The Kentucky series is UT’s oldest and most-played among SEC opponents. The Vols and Wildcats first met on Feb. 5, 1910, and have clashed 229 times over the years.
• On 14 different occasions—first in 1950 and most recently in 2017—an unranked Tennessee team has defeated a Kentucky team ranked in the AP top 10.
• No program in college basketball has logged more wins over Kentucky than Tennessee (73).
• The Vols have beaten the Wildcats just five times at Rupp Arena, posting victories in 1977, 1979, 1999, 2006 and 2018.
• Kentucky is one of only two SEC schools (along with Alabama) to lead its all-time series against the Volunteers.
• Four Tennessee All-Americans were Kentucky natives: Allan Houston, Chris Lofton, Danny Schultz and Paul “Lefty” Walther.
• Tennessee has 15 all-time wins over the Wildcats at Thompson-Boling Arena, including four straight between 2016-19.

SECOND TIME’S A CHARM
• Over the last three seasons, Rick Barnes and his staff guided the Volunteers to an 11-2 record in regular-season rematch games (SEC Tournament games not included).
• The lone losses came this season at South Carolina and Arkansas.

ROAD WARRIORS
• Dating to the start of the 2017-18 season, Tennessee has won more than half of its true road games, going 18-14 (.563).
• That includes victories at Kentucky, Iowa State, Georgia Tech, Wake Forest, Memphis, Alabama and Florida.

PONS RIDING BLOCK STREAK, APPROACHING UT SEASON RECORD
• Yves Pons, the SEC’s leading shot-blocker, has blocked at least one shot in every game this season.
• His streak of 29 straight games with at least one block is the longest such streak by a Vol since at least the 1988-89 season (research is ongoing).
• Pons has blocked three or more shots in 15 games this season, including a program-record-tying six-block effort against Jacksonville State on Dec. 21.
• With two regular-season games left to play, he already ranks second on UT’s single-season blocks list. The record is 73, by C.J. Black in 1997-98.

WINDICATORS
• Tennessee under Rick Barnes is 50-6 when holding its opponent below a .390 field-goal percentage.
• Tennessee under Rick Barnes is 45-3 when it takes a double-digit lead into halftime.
• The Vols are 10-1 this season when they total 16 or more assists as a team.
• The Vols are 6-2 during Josiah-Jordan James career when he records five or more assists.
• Tennessee is undefeated during John Fulkerson’s career in games in which he makes a 3-point shot.

UT Athletics

Rick Barnes Monday Press Conference Video and Transcript (3.2.20)

Posted on March 2, 2020

Watch Online | Video Download

Tennessee men’s basketball coach Rick Barnes, met with the media on Monday afternoon inside the Ray and Lucy Hand digital studio.

On Kentucky and his expectations for the game tomorrow:
“I think Kentucky is the most underrated and underappreciated team in the country right now. I think them, and Kansas are the two best teams in the country. They (Kentucky) haven’t lost since their game at Auburn, and Kansas I don’t think has lost since their game at home against Baylor. Right now, those are the two best teams in College Basketball. They have two players, Immanuel Quickley and Nick Richards who are two guys that are player of the year type candidates. there’s a lot of terrific coaches in our league and nobody has done a better job than John Calipari. So, with that said they’re playing terrific defense, they get out in transition, they are as lethal as any team you will play against. They’re going to get into their sets and execute. They’ve improved since we last played them. I think we have improved a lot as well. That game we started a bigger lineup, because Josiah didn’t play. So, we are going to have to continue to get better and our guys coming off a game against Florida should feel good, but we know that we are going on the road to play arguably the best team in College Basketball right now.”

On why he thinks Kentucky has been able to win a lot of close games:
“The free throw shooting and great defense for certain. They do make free throws. They made a lot of free throws down the stretch when they came here to play us, and we got behind and had to foul. John’s (Calipari) teams always defend. They aren’t going to give you anything easy. I think they have definitely improved. We talked about it last time, how much Nick Richards has improved. You look at their backcourt play all around, they have improved as well. His teams always get better around this time of year. This is always when they play their best basketball. I wouldn’t say what I just said about them being one of the best teams in the country if they didn’t have the whole package. I think both them and Kansas are built for close games and the fact is, that they take care of the ball, make free throws and they are going to make you earn everything on the other end.”

On if playing against other highly touted freshman is a motivating factor for Josiah-Jordan James:
“I don’t know if playing against other high rated players is what motivates him. He’s had to fight through a lot of injuries and those type of things. He’s feeling better then he has at probably any point this year. He came out and set a great tone for us against Florida and we need him to continue to do that. I tell all the guys that are playing minutes that they are closer to being sophomores then freshman. Again, he’s been hurt and he’s feeling much better now than he has in a long time. So now it’s a consistency thing, can he continue to do that and get better?”

On Fulkerson attacking more on the offensive end:
“I do think he has but I think a lot of it had to do with the growth of this team and for our other players to understand it. Just to understand the game. Understanding the importance of getting fouled. Understanding what goes into it. Again, when we talk about getting the ball inside, it doesn’t have to be to throw it to John Fulkerson every time. It can be driving the ball, just attacking to at least give yourself a chance to get fouled. There’s no doubt his mindset has changed. I do believe that. I do think that he understands what he needs to do. He’s had to learn it; I will say that. It’s not in his nature to play the way he’s been playing. The way people game plan for him, he gets pushed, he gets shoved around more than any player I’ve ever coached. He gets shoved a lot. People think he’s flopping out there, he’s not. He’s light, he’s quick and his motor is what makes him different. He gets pushed off position a lot and gets walked under more than people might think. He never complains about it. When he’s talking to an official something has happened, because he never does that. His mindset has changed where he realizes that we need him to be aggressive. I go back to he and Yves. Not only do they have to do it on the defensive end, both of those guys are trying to get it done on the offensive end. No one has got more of a load to carry than what Fulky has been carrying in the last couple weeks. That’s for certain.”

On Lamonte Turner’s senior day and what he’s meant during his time at UT:
“I’m planning on him being here. He should be because he was our very first player that we actually recruited when we got here. He’s meant a lot to our program. He still means a lot to our program. I don’t know if there has been a more difficult and sad ending than what he did, because this was the year in his mind that this was going to be his year. He came in and had to wait a year while other guys played and then dealt with injuries throughout his career. The one thing he gave us and I can say he’s arguably as competitive as any player we’ve had since I’ve been here. And to lose that was a big loss. That alone was a big loss. Obviously, he gave everything he had. I can’t explain to you what it’s like not to have feeling in your hand and not be able to get the ball up and shoot it the way you want too. He came in one time before the season got going and he spent three and a half or four weeks trying to shoot left handed. That’s how much it was bothering him at that time. And even though it was his left arm, he couldn’t bring his left arm across him and I think that just shows you the commitment he tried to make; but he knew he couldn’t do that the way he wanted to. Obviously, it got to a point to where he just felt like he was helpless and he felt like he was hurting us more than he was helping us which I’m not sure I’d say that. I think in his mind he felt that way. He should be recognized here as much as any player we’ve had for what he’s given to our program.”

On if Josiah’s injury and rough stretch impacted his confidence:
“I don’t know how it can’t. Josiah is a really hard worker. He’s been a hard worker for a long time, and he doesn’t have any false sense of him being something that he’s not. He wants to get better every day, he’s not one of those guys that thinks that he’s already there and all that. That is not even anywhere in his mind. So, I’m sure frustration and not being able to move and do some of the things that he’d like to be able to do, those can’t help but to affect your confidence at times. Plus, you’ve got a lot dropped on you when Lamonte (Turner) goes, down. There’s a lot on him, and think about it, if Santi (Vescovi) wouldn’t have gotten here, our lone guard would’ve been Jordan Bowden through those games. There was a lot that came down on Josiah and Jordan Bowden at that time and then Santiago gets here, and he has meant a lot to us. But I think Josiah and Jordan Bowden both have had a lot thrown at them this year and I think both of those guys have handled it in a great way.”

On how Uros and Santiago have adapted to the team after coming mid-season:
“Santiago is a guy whose story is incredible. In college basketball, I don’t know of anybody that has ever had three days of practice and then has started every game as a freshman, when his first game starts in conference play. Really, it’s an incredible story, and it’s pretty neat thinking about right now, everybody we play is trying to figure out how to guard him in different ways, and all that is showing him the things he needs to continue to improve on. So, when he has to face that adversity, like anybody, it’s good because it reveals, hey, this is where I’ve got to get better, and the fact is, he’s one of those guys, and I would say that about Josiah too. Those guys realize that. ‘Hey, this aversity could be good if you turn it into a good thing for yourself,’ and I do think Santiago has done that. Uros, we feel for him as a staff because he didn’t get those November or December games where you can get to play through some mistakes. Our job is to develop these guys, but we also need to win games. So, sometimes it’s tough putting him in a situation where there’s a lot at stake. But overall, if you watch him during the game, he’s as a good of a teammate as we’ve had, and he has gotten better. There’s no doubt he’s gotten better. I think the fact that he’s gotten to play this year just with what he’s done, is really going to help him tremendously going forward because he knows the things, he has to do to get better. But it is hard, not only for your team, but for him to be integrated at the time that he was. But, you have to believe that it all happened for a reason, and it’s a good thing. He has struggled with it, but he’s never wavered in terms of his attitude and wanting to do everything he can to help our team.”

On Lamonte being around the team since his injury
“Well he’s been in and out because he’s rehabbing. He still wants to pursue basketball, and so he’s been in and out. From what I understand he’s gone to part-time status, so we don’t get hurt academically that way. He’s around and when he’s around he’s certainly a positive influence on our guys, but he still has had to do rehab and he still had to go back and check on things with the people that have done the work on him, but the last time I saw him was last week and he said he thinks he’s ready to start getting back in the gym.”

On coaching Jordan Bowden over the last four years and the impact
“You know I’ve never seen him have a bad day as a person. To me he is as consistent a human being as I’ve ever been around. Even when things aren’t going well he hides it. He’s one of the funniest guys around. He’s really a funny guy, he has a great personality, but watching his growth I mean you think about it, and Tom told me last week I think he’s now in the top-25 all-time in leading scorers here. His impact has been the roles that he’s had to play. I say the dirty work, but he’s been willing to do all the dirty work. He’s always been a guy that we thought he’s going to be the matchup to guard the other teams’ best player. This year he’s had to take on a different role obviously, and he’s had to play out of the position that he had normally played here. He got put in a situation and he struggled, but he never blamed anyone shooting the ball. I can say in some ways what he’s done defensively has been as impressive as anything he’s done since he’s been here, because when he was struggling—and he was pressing there’s no doubt about it—but he never gave up on doing his job, in terms of defensively and trying to rebound, and being as good a teammate as possible. I think if you ask the guys over time he could probably be voted the best teammate, because of the way he is every day with those guys and he’s a very unselfish person maybe to a fault on the basketball court. It’s hard to believe now that he’s a senior and I can still think of the day when we sat down with his Mom and Dad, they wanted to know why we weren’t recruiting him, and I’m just glad Steve Diggs made that connection for us. We sat down and went down to see him and he made the decision to come here. It’s been good for all of us, and I think it’s been great for him too.”

On gaining confidence in Vescovi late in games and throughout the season
“His first shot against LSU, I mean you saw the confidence he played with. For one thing, he’s fearless. He hasn’t been perfect by any stretch of the imagination and is turning the ball over. I can go back to those November/December turnovers that you wish he had a chance to make. He didn’t get that opportunity. He had to make it in high level conference games. He took it personal, and he does take it personal sometimes, but he’s a competitor and he has a great mindset toward the game. There’s no doubt that he’s given his teammates and all of us confidence. Once he settled in, there’s not a guy in this program that wanted to have the ball more at the free-throw line at that point in time.”

On the two timeouts called during Florida’s run and what he saw differently in comparison to the Auburn game:
“One of them we called because of the rule’s situation. We only had four seconds to get the ball across half court. If you call a timeout in that situation then the clock resets to 10 seconds. That timeout had nothing to do with anything other than that. I thought, since we hadn’t gotten the ball across in six seconds then we weren’t going to get it across in four. So, we got a reset on the clock and that’s why we called those timeouts back-to-back. If you go back to the Florida game, we turned the ball over twice (in quick succession). For 25 minutes the game was going along at a smooth tempo and all at once when you’re down like they were they’re going to change. They’re not going to stay the same. They’re going to start taking more chances on defense, they’re going to start heating the ball up more, they’re going to start driving the ball more and that’s where we’ve struggled to adjust when we’ve had leads. When you go back and look at it we turned the ball over on back-to-back possessions and we missed two one-and-one’s and Santi missed one-of-two. That stuff turns the game around. You only have so many timeouts. If I could stop it after every turnover I would. But, you can’t do that. Like I said, if we wouldn’t have saved timeouts at the end of the game and you ask why. Santi got the ball in the corner and had to bun a timeout. If you use those timeouts at different times, when you’re in close games you don’t have those timeouts and this team needs timeouts at the end of the game.”

On playing the starters for 36+ minutes each:
“It goes back to what I was saying early. These guys have worked really hard and we would’ve liked to have eliminated those two turnovers and knock down those one-and-ones so you can get guys out and get some of those other guys in to let them get some of those minutes. But, when the lead gets down to four and five points it’s hard. Fulky was tired, but he didn’t want to come out of the game. That’s how critical each possession can be. But, in that situation when they come back from 19 points down and cut it to one point, you have to go with the guys that have been in the game. They have to gut it out and gut it up and they have to do whatever they have to do to make plays. We got lucky on Fulky’s three, but when you work hard those things happen. The biggest play of the game was when we came across half court, we ran a quick hitter for Bowden to get to the rim instead of holding the ball down. We planned to go two-for-one, they rotated late on the box out and Fulky dunked the ball. That was as big a play as any of them. We told them we were going to be aggressive and Bowden came over, we ran a little set for him, he turned it up and missed the layup, but thankfully Fulky was there to clean it up.”

UT Athletics

Rennia Davis Named Final 2019-20 SEC Women’s Hoops Player of the Week

Posted on March 2, 2020

KNOXVILLE, Tenn. — University of Tennessee junior forward Rennia Davis has been chosen as the final SEC Women’s Basketball Player of the Week of 2019-20, the league office in Birmingham, Ala., announced on Monday afternoon. It marks the third time this season and the sixth occasion in her career that Davis has been selected for the award.

Additionally, Davis has been announced as the College Sports Madness SEC Player of the Week. It marked her second time this year of being acknowledged by that organization. The first time came on Nov. 18.

The All-SEC and All-America candidate put together back-to-back double-double efforts last week to help the Lady Vols close out the regular season with three consecutive wins and record the program’s 43rd 20-win season in the past 44 years. The 20-9 overall record and 10-6 conference mark significantly improves the Lady Vols’ chances of receiving a bid to the NCAA Tournament for the 39th consecutive time.

The 6-foot-2 standout averaged 20.5 points, 10.5 rebounds and 3.5 assists in wins over Ole Miss and Auburn that helped UT forge a tie for third in the SEC standings after being picked to finish sixth by the media and seventh by the coaches. Davis shot 48.4 percent from the field (15-31), 33.3 percent from long range (2-6) and 81.8 from the free-throw line (9-11) en route to recording her 10th and 11th double-doubles of the season and her sixth 20+ point effort of the campaign. She now has scored in double figures in 26 straight games and has done so in 40 of her last 41 contests.

Davis was Tennessee’s only player in double figures in the regular season finale at Auburn on Sunday, connecting on nine of 18 shots and three of four attempts at the charity stripe to finish with a game-high 22 points and 10 rebounds to go along with three assists. She also was instrumental in a defensive effort that limited Auburn to 55 points just one game after the Tigers had scored 95 on the road at Missouri. She also helped the Lady Vols restrict AU double-double career leader Unique Thompson to six points and five rebounds on the afternoon.

Against Ole Miss last Thursday, Davis was good for 19 points, 11 rebounds and four assists as UT improved to 13-3 at home in 2019-20. The effort was one of 20 this season when the Jacksonville, Fla., native has paced UT in scoring and one of 13 as the team’s leading rebounder.

Davis and her teammates will depart for Greenville, S.C., on Tuesday night and play in the SEC Tournament’s second round on Thursday at approximately 8:30 p.m. ET. UT, which received the No. 6 seed after the third-place tie was broken, will meet the winner of Wednesday’s tilt between No. 11 seed Missouri and No. 14 Ole Miss.

UT Athletics

Listen to Jon Pardi’s Rowdy New Single, “Ain’t Always the Cowboy”

Posted on March 2, 2020

Jon Pardi will try to scored his fifth No. 1 single with the release of “Ain’t Always the Cowboy,” which will impact country radio on March 16. Penned by Brandon Kinney and Josh Thompson, “Ain’t Always the Cowboy” is featured on Jon’s 2019 album, Heartache Medication.

After scoring four Top 5 singles—including three No. 1 hits—with his 2016 No. 1 album, California Sunrise, Jon topped the charts with Heartache Medication’s title track in February. Jon is also currently featured on Thomas Rhett’s new single, “Beer Can’t Fix.”

Listen to “Ain’t Always the Cowboy” below.

photo by Tammie Arroyo, AFF-USA.com

Carrie Underwood Launches New Fitness App, fit52

Posted on March 2, 2020

Carrie Underwood launched a new fitness app, fit52, in conjunction with the release of her new book, Find Your Path: Honor Your Body, Fuel Your Soul and Get Strong With the Fit52 Life, which goes on sale on March 3.

According to a press release, the new app is a “holistic wellness platform designed to encourage and support you on your personal wellness journey and make it easier for you to find your path to a stronger, healthier you.”

“Fitness is a true passion for me,” says Carrie. “The fit52 app incorporates what I’ve been doing myself for years, and we’ve made it easy and totally accessible for anyone that wants help to work in working out. We worked really hard to create a high-quality, user-friendly app that is designed for busy people and their busy lives. fit52 meets you wherever you are on your health journey, and I’m so proud of it.”

In the upcoming book, which goes on sale on March 3, Carrie “share secrets for fitting diet and exercise into a packed routine, which is based on her own active lifestyle, diet and workouts.”

“I want to be healthy and fit 52 weeks of the year, but that doesn’t mean I have to be perfect every day,” says Carrie. “This philosophy is a year-round, common-sense approach to health and fitness that involves doing your best most of the time—and by that I don’t mean being naughty for three days and good for four. I mean doing your absolute best most of the time during every week, 52 weeks of the year.”

Carrie Underwood Book Tour

March 2 | Powerhouse | Brooklyn, NY

March 3 | Chelsea Piers | Stamford, CT

March 5 | Parnassus Books | Nashville, TN

March 17 | Ray Kurtzman Theater | Los Angeles, CA

photo by Tammie Arroyo, AFF-USA.com

Jimmie Allen and Fiancée Welcome Baby Girl, Naomi Bettie Allen

Posted on March 2, 2020

Jimmie Allen is loving life right now.

Jimmie and fiancée Alexis Gale welcomed a baby girl—Naomi Bettie Allen—to their family on March 1, the same day Jimmie got news that he scored his second consecutive No. 1 single with “Make Me Want To,” which topped the Mediabase chart this week.

Jimmie called morning show co-hosts Chuck Wicks and Trisha “T.J.” Jenkins on March 2 to share the great news.

“I though getting a number one [single] was going to be the best part of my day, but then my daughter, Naomi, was born yesterday,” says Jimmie.”The baby’s middle name is Bettie, we named her after my grandma [who passed away in 2014], so her initials are NBA, go figure. And my grandma’s birthday was actually March 13, my mom’s birthday is March 7 and Naomi’s birthday is March 1. And [fiancee] Lexi is laying right here looking awesome.”

Jimmie has a slate of tour dates in Europe and Australia on the docket in March.

“Thursday, we head out of the country for about three-and-a-half weeks,” says Jimmie. “It’s been a good day, definitely thankful for it, and thankful for you guys’ support.”

Listen to Jimmie talk with Chuck and T.J.

Jimmie also has a five-year-old son from a previous relationship. Congrats to the happy family.

photo by Tammie Arroyo, AFF-USA.com

Lady Vols Earn SEC Tie for Third in Heart-Stopper at Auburn, 56-55

Posted on March 2, 2020

Box Score (PDF) | SEC Bracket (PDF) | Harper Presser | Highlights

Auburn, Ala. – Junior Rennia Davis tallied a double-double with 22 points and 10 rebounds, and freshman Jordan Horston hit a runner in the lane with 0.6 seconds left on the clock to lift Tennessee to a crucial 56-55 win at Auburn to close out the regular season on Sunday afternoon.

The victory improved the Lady Vols’ record to 20-9 overall and 10-6 in the SEC, earning them a four-way tie for third place in the SEC regular season with Texas A&M, Kentucky and Arkansas. Based on the tie-breaking format, UT earns the No. 6 seed for next week’s SEC Tournament and will play at 8:30 p.m. ET on Thursday at Bon Secours Wellness Arena in Greenville, S.C. The Lady Vols will meet the winner of Wednesday’s contest between No. 11 Missouri and No. 14 Ole Miss.

The double-double was the 29th of Davis’ career (11th this season), tying Bashaara Graves for 10th all-time among Lady Vols. Redshirt senior Lou Brown was Tennessee’s next highest scorer, posting nine points off three-of-six shooting from behind the arc.

Auburn (10-17, 4-12 SEC) was paced by senior Daisa Alexander, who finished with 15 points, followed by sophomore Robyn Benton who had 11.

Lou Brown scored the first points of the game, knocking down a baseline three just under two minutes into the first quarter. Benton answered for Auburn, hitting a jumper on the other end to pull the score to 3-2, but Davis and Rae Burrell combined for six unanswered points to give UT a 9-2 lead by the 6:21 mark. After an AU timeout, Jazmine Massengill stretched UT’s cushion to nine before Unique Thompson converted on a pair of free throws to set off a 7-0 Tigers run that put them within two with two and a half minutes left in the frame. Brown, Davis and Jessie Rennie combined for four-straight 3-pointers in the closing minutes, building UT’s lead to nine before Morgan Robinson-Nwagwu hit two free throws just before the quarter’s end to close within 23-16 to start the second period.

Benton hit a free throw to pull AU within six at the start of the second, but Kamera Harris put in a layup on the other end, sparking a 7-0 UT run that stretched the lead to 30-17 with six minutes to go in the quarter. UT went cold offensively following the break, while AU rallied within five points off a 10-2 run to trail just 32-27 at the half.

Tamari Key scored her first points of the game at the start of the second half, hitting a layup off a Davis assist to stretch UT’s lead to seven. Davis then added three quick points herself to put the Lady Vols up 37-27 three minutes in. Auburn’s full-court press began causing problems for UT, though, and the Tigers converted Tennessee turnovers into points, pulling within three off a pair of layups and a Benton 3-pointer before Davis stopped the surge with a layup of her own. The five-point deficit held until the 3:00 mark when Benton hit a free throw to pull AU within four. UT responded, closing out the period with a 6-0 run fueled by Jaiden McCoy, Horston and Davis to give the Lady Vols a 48-38 lead heading into the final stanza.

Auburn came out swinging on its first possession of the fourth, cutting UT’s lead to seven off an Alexander trey. Alexander struck again on the next play, hitting a layup to pull AU within six. The deficit remained at six points until Annie Hughes hit a baseline jumper with 6:37 to play that pulled the score to 50-47. Burrell hit the second of a pair of free throws to lift UT back up by four, but Hughes hit another jumper to cut it to two with just over four minutes remaining in the game. Auburn then forced a shot clock violation, and Thompson hit two free throws on the other end to tie the game at 51-all with three minutes left. Kasiyanah Kushkituah responded with a layup on the other end, and UT came up with a pair of defensive stops before Horston hit a free throw with 13 seconds left in the game to stretch the Lady Vols’ lead to three. With 3.8 seconds remaining Alexander was fouled by Horston behind the arc, and in her last game in Auburn Arena, the senior hit all three shots to tie the game at 54-all. But Horston would redeem herself on the next possession, driving through the lane to score on a six-foot runner to give UT a two-point lead with .6 second left in the game. Before the ball was inbounded, a foul was called on UT to send Alexander to the line. She knocked down her first one, but her second free throw came up short and Tennessee escaped with a 56-55 victory.

Up Next: The Lady Vols will travel to the SEC Tournament in Greenville, S.C., beginning play on Thursday. They will face the winner of the No. 11 vs. No. 14 match-up at 8:30 p.m. ET. The game will be broadcast on the SEC Network and on Lady Vol Network radio stations.

Keeping Thompson In Check: Auburn junior Unique Thompson entered the game averaging 16.6 ppg. and 11.6 rpg. and was fresh off recording her 41st career double-double against Missouri. Tennessee managed to hold her to just six points and five rebounds on the day.

20+ Davis: With 22 points against Auburn, Rennia Davis recorded her sixth 20+ game of the season and the 13th of her career, putting her at ninth all-time among Lady Vols.

Dominating The Boards: The Lady Vols out-rebounded the Tigers by a commanding 50-26 margin. UT has now out-rebounded 21 of 29 opponents on the season and boasts a +11.4 rebounding margin.

20-Win Season: With the victory over Auburn, UT claimed its 20th win of the season. Tennessee has now posted 20-win seasons in 43 of the last 44 years.

Team Effort: Every Tennessee player who saw action against AU contributed at least two points to the victory, and UT’s bench outscored Auburn’s 15-9.

UT Athletics

Vols Rebound from Early Deficit to Secure Series Win Over George Washington

Posted on March 1, 2020

Vols LHP Redmond Walsh / Credit: UT Athletics

KNOXVILLE, Tenn. – Tennessee had to dig itself out of an early hole to earn a hard-fought 7-3 win over George Washington on a sunny Saturday afternoon at Lindsey Nelson Stadium.

The Vols (11-0) fell behind 2-0 in the top of the first inning and found themselves trailing 3-0 heading into the bottom of the third before freshman center fielder Drew Gilbert sparked the offense with a solo home run.

Gilbert went 4-for-5 on the day, adding a double and three runs while batting leadoff for the Big Orange. Alerick Soularie and Pete Derkay also had two hits each on the day to chip in offensively.

It was Derkay’s two-run single with the bases loaded in the fifth inning that tied the game at three before Luc Lipcius drove in Soularie with an RBI groundout to give the Vols a 4-3 lead.

Soularie led off the seventh with a solo homer – his second of the year – to give UT a little breathing room.

Redmond Walsh earned his first win of the year after tossing five shutout innings in relief of starter Chase Wallace, who was able to rebound from a rocky start to strike out four batters in four innings of work.

Tyler Hix, Domenic Boselli and Noah Levin all drove in runs for the Colonials (6-4) to give them an early advantage but starting pitcher Justin Solt and the bullpen were unable to contain the Tennessee bats later in the game.

The Vols will go for the series sweep tomorrow afternoon with first pitch slated for 1 p.m. Fans can also watch the game on SEC Network+ and the ESPN app.

Notable
Rally Vols
Entering this weekend’s series, Tennessee had scored first in every game this season and had trailed just once. However, George Washington has jumped out to leads in both games this weekend and the Vols have had to rally for wins. From the fifth inning on, the Big Orange have outscored the Colonials 13-0 in the series.

Gilbert Providing a Spark
In both games this weekend, Gilbert has provided the Vols with a spark offensively. The freshman from Minnesota had a pair of hits and scored two runs – including the game-winning run – in yesterday’s victory and topped that performance with a career day on Saturday.

Gilbert set career highs with four hits and three runs scored. He also hit his first-career home run to get the Vols on the board in the third inning. For the series, Gilbert is batting .750 with six hits and five runs.

Box Score (PDF) | Season Stats (PDF) | VIDEO: Vitello Postgame | VIDEO: Walsh Postgame | VIDEO: Soularie Postgame

-UT Athletics

Tennessee Takes Down Florida, 63-58

Posted on March 1, 2020

Vols F John Fulkerson / Credit: 99.1 The Sports Animal

KNOXVILLE, Tenn. – A game-high 22 points on 10-of-15 shooting from John Fulkerson led the way as Tennessee defeated Florida for the fourth consecutive time. The win also marks the Vols’ 50th regular-season SEC victory under fifth-year head coach Rick Barnes.

Vols freshman Josiah-Jordan James stuffed the stat sheet, recording 12 points, eight rebounds and six assists in 40 minutes.

The Vols began the contest red hot from the floor, connecting on eight of 14 field goals and forcing the Gators into six turnovers by the 8:00 media timeout.

James connected on his first two 3-point attempts and led the Vols with eight points through the game’s opening 10 minutes.

At the six-minute mark of the first half, UT senior Jordan Bowden nailed a 3-point shot, his first of 10 points on the afternoon. Then, a block by James on the defensive end, followed by a made triple by Santiago Vescovi extended the Tennessee lead to 26-14 and forced a Florida timeout .

The Vols’ defense was suffocating in the opening stanza, holding the Gators to zero made field goals in the final 9:48 of the first half.

Freshman Davonte Gaines got in on the defensive action, maintaining Tennessee’s momentum with a big block in the half’s final minute.

Tennessee held a 32-17 advantage at halftime, shooting at a 48 percent clip (14-29) in the opening 20 minutes, with James leading all scorers with 10 points at the break.

The Vols also dished out nine assists and forced 11 Florida turnovers in the first half. The Gators’ 17 points were their season-low for any half this season, with their previous low being 20 points in the first half against UConn.

The Florida field-goal drought extended to 10:42 to start the second half.

An alley-oop from Vescovi to Fulkerson snapped a quick 5-0 Florida run. Then, with just under 12 minutes remaining in the game, Fulkerson threw down a two-handed slam to increase the Vols’ run to 8-0 and give them a 48-29 advantage.

A 14-2 run by the Gators narrowed their deficit to just seven points with under eight minutes to go.

Fulkerson made a much-needed jumper with the shot clock winding down, before Vescovi blocked a 3-point attempt with just under six minutes to go.

Leading 55-54 with under 2:30 left in the contest, the Vols in-bounded the ball with two seconds remaining on the shot clock, before Fulkerson buried his first career 3-point field goal. The momentum from that sequence carried Tennessee to victory.

To seal the win, Fulkerson grabbed an offensive rebound and authoritatively made another dunk, further energizing a Thompson-Boling Arena packed with 19,743 fans.

Moving Up: Jordan Bowden’s two made triples moved him to seventh on Tennessee’s all-time 3-point makes list, with 184 career made 3-pointers. He is tied with VFL and current Washington Wizards rookie, Admiral Schofield.

Leap Day for Air Pons: SEC Defensive Player of the Year candidate Yves Pons finished the afternoon with two blocks. He increased his season total to 70 blocks and is now just four rejections away from breaking UT’s single season blocks record with two regular-season games left to play.

Homecourt Advantage: The five-point win marked Tennessee’s 13th home victory over Florida over the past 16 meetings between the two foes in Knoxville, dating to 2003.

Up Next: The Vols travel north to Lexington as they face the Kentucky Wildcats in their final road game of the season. Tipoff is slated for 9 p.m. ET on ESPN.

BOX SCORE | HIGHLIGHTS | QUOTES | RICK BARNES POSTGAME PRESSER | SANTIAGO VESCOVI FAMILY SURPRISE

-UT Athletics

Video: Santiago Vescovi’s family comes in from Uruguay and surprises him

Posted on February 29, 2020

Tennessee guard Santiago Vescovi was surprised by his family in the pregame, who traveled from Uruguay to see him. See the video of the surprise and then the family speaking to the media afterwards.

We're not crying, you're crying 😭🤗

Santiago Vescovi's family travels from Uruguay to Knoxville for the first time to surprise him ✈️

(via @Vol_Hoops)pic.twitter.com/Saujslmp9u

— SEC Network (@SECNetwork) February 29, 2020