George Strait Teams With Blake Shelton for Gillette Stadium Show on Aug. 17 [Watch the Funny Promo]

George Strait Teams With Blake Shelton for Gillette Stadium Show on Aug. 17 [Watch the Funny Promo]

Posted on March 19, 2019

George Strait will headline a show at Gillette Stadium in Foxborough, Mass., on Aug. 17—and he’s bringing along Blake Shelton, Cody Johnson and Caitlyn Smith.

This will be George’s first concert in New England since his Cowboy Rides Away Tour at Gillette Stadium in 2014.

Tickets for the new show go on sale on March 29 at 10 a.m. ET.

Blake and George dropped a humorous video promo for the tour via Twitter, which you can check out below.

photos: George Strait by Kirkland, AFF-USA.com; Blake Shelton by Jason Simanek

Luke Combs’ “Beautiful Crazy” Is No. 1 for Fourth Straight Week

Luke Combs’ “Beautiful Crazy” Is No. 1 for Fourth Straight Week

Posted on March 19, 2019

Luke Combs’ “Beautiful Crazy” is No. 1 on Billboard’s Country Airplay chart for the fourth straight week. The tune, which Luke co-penned with Wyatt B. Durrette and Robert Williford, is featured on the deluxe version of Luke’s debut album, This One’s for You Too.

With his latest No. 1, Luke is first country artist in history whose first five singles have reached No. 1, following previous chart-toppers “Hurricane,” “When It Rains It Pours,” “One Number Away” and “She Got the Best of Me.”

Luke is nominated for Male Artist of the Year and New Male Artist of the Year at the upcoming ACM Awards in April.

photo by Tammie Arroyo, AFF-USA.com

ACM Awards Adds Performers Dierks Bentley, Eric Church, Brooks & Dunn, Dan + Shay, FGL & More

ACM Awards Adds Performers Dierks Bentley, Eric Church, Brooks & Dunn, Dan + Shay, FGL & More

Posted on March 19, 2019

The Academy of Country Music announced another round of performers for the 54th ACM Awards on April 7: Dierks Bentley, Brooks & Dunn, Brandi Carlile, Eric Church, Kelly Clarkson, Luke Combs, Dan + Shay, Florida Georgia Line and Ashley McBryde.

Previously announced ACM Awards performers include Brothers Osborne, Kane Brown, Miranda Lambert, Little Big Town, Reba McEntire, Maren Morris, Thomas Rhett, Chris Stapleton, Jason Aldean and George Strait

Additional acts and presenters will be announced in the coming weeks.

Hosted by Reba McEntire, the ACM Awards will air live from the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas on Sunday, April 7, 2019 at 8 p.m. ET on CBS.

photo by Tammie Arroyo, AFF-USA.com

Williams Named Citizen Naismith Trophy Finalist

Williams Named Citizen Naismith Trophy Finalist

Posted on March 19, 2019
Credit: UT Athletics

ATLANTA – Tennessee’s Grant Williams earned more recognition for his impressive season Tuesday, being named a 2019 Citizen Naismith Trophy Men’s Player of the Year Finalist by the Atlanta Tipoff Club.

Williams, who was on the preseason watch list, the midseason team and was a semifinalist, was one of four players across the country selected as a potential recipient of the honor, joining Duke’s Zion Williamson, Gonzaga’s Rui Hachimura and Murray State’s Ja Morant.

The junior forward has been one of the nation’s most all-around players this year, averaging 19.0 points, 7.6 rebounds, 3.1 assists, 1.4 blocks and 1.1 steals per game. He is also shooting 57 percent from the field and an impressive 83 percent from the charity stripe.

Williams ranks in the top 10 of the SEC in scoring (1st), field-goal percentage (2nd), free-throw percentage (4th), rebounding (6th) and assist/turnover ratio (9th).

Williams’ list of postseason honors is already impressive. The Charlotte, North Carolina, native has been named SEC Player of the Year and a first-team All-SEC performer—both for the second straight season. He was also named to the SEC Community Service Team, SEC All-Tournament Team, United States Basketball Writers Association (USBWA) District IV Player of the Year and is a first-team All-American by Sporting News and the USBWA.

The junior forward is also up for consideration for several other player of the year honors, being tabbed to the Men’s National Ballot for the John R. Wooden Award, a 2018-19 Oscar Robertson Trophy finalist and a Karl Malone Power Forward of the Year finalist.

The 2019 Citizen Naismith Trophy will be awarded on at the Naismith Awards Brunch on April 7, 2019, during the Final Four in Minneapolis.

The Naismith Trophy is awarded annually to the women’s and men’s college basketball players of the year. First awarded in 1969 to UCLA’s Lew Alcindor, later known as Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, the Naismith Trophy has become one of the most prestigious national honors awarded each year to the top players in the nation.

Named in honor of Dr. James Naismith, the founder of the sport, Tennessee has never had a player win the award.

 

UT Athletics

Jimmy’s blog: Loss to Auburn broke several trends for Tennessee

Jimmy’s blog: Loss to Auburn broke several trends for Tennessee

Posted on March 19, 2019

By Jimmy Hyams

The SEC tournament provided the good, the bad and the ugly for Tennessee basketball.

The good was a thrilling victory over Kentucky as the Vols rallied from eight points down in the final 2:58 in the semifinals.

The bad was a 20-point loss to Auburn in the SEC Tournament final, denying the Vols their first conference tourney title since 1979.

The ugly was, within an eight-day period, Bruce Pearl cost UT not only a tournament crown but an SEC regular season championship.

Auburn outplayed and outhustled the Vols before a 90 percent pro-UT crowd at Bridgestone Arena, 84-64. You knew Tennessee was in trouble when it trailed 32-23 at halftime after Auburn had shot just 5 of 20 from 3-point range and leading scorer Jared Harper had played just two minutes due to foul trouble.

Auburn hit 10 of 20 beyond the arc in the second half to blow out Tennessee.

The defeat raised questions about UT’s depth, UT’s stamina, UT’s focus and UT’s ball-handling.

Could those issues crop up again during the NCAA tournament?

It was apparent Tennessee had not recovered from a physical and emotional win over Kentucky the day before. It marked just the second SEC tourney win over Kentucky since the event’s renewal in 1979 (UT is 2-4 v. Kentucky since then). It also marked just the second time since 1979 that UT has beaten Kentucky twice in the same season (2018, 2019).

All that being said, Auburn broke a plethora of trends for Tennessee, these stats courtesy of John Pennington with the Sports Source.

UT had been 22-0 when attempting 21 or fewer 3s. UT was 8 of 15 against Auburn.

UT had been 25-1 when called for 21 or fewer fouls. UT committed 18 fouls against Auburn.

UT had been 21-1 when Jordan Bowden and Lamonte Turner took 18 or fewer shots. They took 18 against Auburn.

UT had been 21-0 when Kyle Alexander, Grant Williams and Admiral Schofield were called for nine or fewer fouls. They were called for eight.

UT had been 25-1 when holding the opponent to 45.9% shooting or less. Auburn shot 40.6%.

UT had been 23-0 when opponents shot 23 or fewer free throws. Auburn was 17 of 21 from the foul line.

UT had been 20-1 when opponents’ starting forwards and centers scored 23 or fewer points. Auburn’s had 18.

Some dubious trends continued:

UT is now 12-5 when attempting fewer than 18 free throws. UT was 10 of 13 against Auburn.

UT is now 4-4 when handing out 14 or fewer assists. UT had 11 against Auburn.

UT is now 4-5 when the opponent scores 80 or more points.

UT is now 3-3 when opponents have nine or fewer turnovers. Auburn had seven.

Tennessee opens play in the NCAA tournament Friday against Colgate at 2:45 p.m., or about 30 minutes after the Cincinnati-Iowa game in Columbus, Ohio.

Whether those trends continue remains to be seen.

This is the third time Tennessee has been a two seed.

In 2008, the two-seed Vols lost to Louisville in the Sweet 16.

In 2006, the two-seed Vols lost to Wichita State in the round of 32.

With one win, the Vols will become the second team in program history to achieve 30 wins.

But winning just one game in the NCAA tournament would be a major disappointment for this team.

As Grant Williams has often said, the Vols want to hang a banner. They’re 0-for-2 on hanging banners this season (SEC regular-season, SEC Tournament).

The only banner worth hanging now is the Final Four.

And that would be ground-breaking for the Vols.

Sponsored by Big Kahuna Wings: The wings that changed it all http://www.bigkahunawings.com

Maren Morris’ “Girl” Streams to Success in Debut Week

Maren Morris’ “Girl” Streams to Success in Debut Week

Posted on March 19, 2019

Maren Morris’ new album, Girl, streamed to success after being released on March 8.

With 23.96 million streams in its first week, Girl broke the record for most streams by a female artist in the country genre, besting Carrie Underwood’s 2018 album, Cry Pretty (14.44 million streams).

Girl moved 46,000 equivalent album units, according to Nielsen Music, which puts it at No. 1 on Billboard’s Top Country Albums chart. Girl is also No. 4 on the all-genre Billboard 200 chart.

“I am blown away by the support this last week,” says Maren. “My fans were already screaming the lyrics at the show the day after the album came out. I am so shocked and thankful to have broken this record for country music!”

The album’s title track is currently No. 25 on Billboard’s Country Airplay chart after nine weeks. The 14-track offering also features collaborations with Brothers Osborne on “All My Favorite People” and Brandi Carlile on “Common.”

Maren is currently on the North American leg of her Girl World Tour with stops in San Francisco, Los Angeles, Houston, Dallas, Philadelphia, New York and beyond this spring before heading to Europe and Australia.

photo by Jason Simanek

Dylan Scott and Wife Announce They Are Expecting Their Second Child

Dylan Scott and Wife Announce They Are Expecting Their Second Child

Posted on March 19, 2019

Dylan Scott and wife Blair announced they are expecting their second child.

Dylan and Blair revealed the news via Instagram, noting that the baby is due in September.

The couple welcomed their first child, a son named Beckett Scott Robinson, in December 2017.

Dylan and Blair were married in 2016, and as Dylan told Nash Country Daily, the couple has known each other for more than 10 years.

“We started dating at 15, so she’s known since then exactly what I wanted to do,” said Dylan. “She’s never once given me a hard time. There were times when we were dating and I’d tell her, ‘I just don’t know if this is what I’m really supposed to be doing. It’s just so tough. All these other guys are coming on the scene and going straight to the top.’ And she’d just tell me, ‘You have the best job, you’re there, you’re doing it, it will work.’ She was just a great motivator. She still is.”

Vols Can’t Hold Late Lead in 5-3 Loss to No. 15 Auburn

Vols Can’t Hold Late Lead in 5-3 Loss to No. 15 Auburn

Posted on March 18, 2019
Vols OF Al Soularie / Credit: UT Athletics

AUBURN, Ala. – No. 21 Tennessee couldn’t hold on to a late lead and dropped the series finale against No. 15 Auburn in a back-and-forth affair Sunday afternoon at Plainsman Park.

The Tigers scored three runs in the bottom of the eighth inning to rally from a 3-2 deficit and secure the series sweep with a 5-3 victory. UT had just taken the lead in the top of the eighth with a solo home run off the bat of Alerick Soularie, his team-leading seventh of the season.

Soularie went 2-for-4 with two runs and a walk on the afternoon to lead the Vols at the plate. Ricky Martinez (3-for-4) and freshman Max Ferguson (2-for-3, 1 R, 1 BB) also had multi-hit performances as the Big Orange cranked out 10 hits, by far the most of any game in the series.

Senior pitcher Will Neely got the start and had a decent outing, giving up two runs on two hits while striking out three before being lifted for sophomore lefty Garrett Crochet with one out and two runners on in the fifth. Crochet was stuck with the loss after allowing three runs (two earned) on five hits over 3.1 innings of relief.

A two-out rally in the top of the third put the Volunteers up 1-0. Ferguson, making his first start of the series, tripled off the wall in right center and scored on a single up the middle from Justin Ammons to give UT an early lead for the second day in a row.

UT added to its lead with a run in the fourth after a throwing error by Auburn catcher Matt Scheffler allowed Soularie to score from third. Soularie led off the inning with a single up the middle and advanced to third on a two-out single by Martinez before scoring to put the Vols ahead 2-0.

The Big Orange missed out on a great chance to pad their lead in the top of the fifth. A single and a pair of walks loaded the bases with one out for UT, but Soularie lined a ball back at pitcher Cody Greenhill, who made the catch and doubled off Andre Lipcius at first base to escape the jam unscathed.

Auburn carried that momentum into the bottom of the inning, scoring a pair of runs to tie the game at two. Conor Davis doubled to lead off the frame and scored on an RBI ground out by Judd Ward to cut the deficit to one. An infield single by Scheffler one batter later scored Kason Howell from third to tie the game at two.

It looked like the Vols were going to retake the lead in the top of the seventh, but Howell made an incredible diving catch in deep right-center field to rob Lipcius of an RBI and extra bases.

UT countered with an unreal defensive play of its own in the bottom of the inning to keep the game tied. With a runner on second and one out, Martinez made a leaping grab on a hard-hit line drive by Ward and quickly flipped the ball to second to double up Howell to end the inning.

The Orange and White capitalized on the momentum shift with a solo blast by Soularie to lead off the eighth inning. The sophomore crushed a 1-0 pitch over the tall wall in left field to put the Vols back on top, 3-2.

The Tigers took advantage of a leadoff walk and a pair of singles to take their first lead of the game in the bottom of the eighth. The big hit came off the bat of Edouard Julien as he singled to left field with two outs to bring in two runs and give Auburn it’s first lead of the afternoon. A throwing error by Martinez allowed a third run to score in the inning and gave the Tigers a two-run cushion heading into the ninth.

Tennessee put together a two-out rally to load the bases in the top of the ninth, but a ground out to second base ended the game and secured the series sweep for Auburn. Redshirt junior left hander Kyle Gray earned his first victory of the year for the Tigers after tossing the final 1.2 innings.

NOTABLE
SOULARIE GOES DEEP TO CAP SOLID WEEKEND: Sophomore newcomer Alerick Soularie was one of Tennessee’s bright spots offensively over the weekend. The Houston, Texas native had two hits and scored twice in Sunday’s loss. His lead-off solo home run in the top of the eighth gave the Vols a 3-2 lead. Soularie led UT with a .333 batting average, four hits, two runs and two RBI for the series.

MISSED OPPORTUNITIES: Missed opportunities seemed to be the theme of Sunday’s game as the Vols left 11 runners on base. Tennessee left runners on base in the last seven innings of the game and stranded multiple runners on base three times, including leaving the bases loaded in the ninth.

UP NEXT: The Vols will look to get back on track against in-state foe ETSU on Tuesday night in Johnson City. First pitch is set for 6 p.m. ET and fans can listen to John Wilkerson call the action on the Vol Network radio broadcast (AM 990).

Box Score (PDF) | Season Stats (PDF) | SEC Stats (PDF)

-UT Athletics

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