NASHVILLE, Tenn. – Beginning postseason action as the No. 4 seed in the SEC Tournament, No. 8/6 Tennessee is set to face No. 13 seed Texas in the event’s quarterfinal round Friday afternoon at Bridgestone Arena in Nashville. Tipoff is slated for 3:30 p.m. ET. Coverage begins at 3pm on 103.1FM WIKQ.
Fans can catch Friday’s game between the Volunteers (25-6) and Longhorns (19-14) on ESPN. Dan Shulman (play-by-play), Jay Bilas (analyst) and Jess Sims (reporter) will have the call. Fans can also listen live on their local Vol Network affiliate to hear Bob Kesling and Bert Bertelkamp describing the action.
In its most recent action, Tennessee concluded the regular season by defeating South Carolina, 75-65, Saturday afternoon at a sold-out Food City Center.
On a day it honored seven seniors, UT got a game-high 23 points from one of them, fifth-year guard Chaz Lanier, who had 20 after the break. The triumph sealed the program’s fourth consecutive 25-win campaign and third-ever 25-win regular season.
THE MATCHUP
• Tennessee is 5-2 its the last seven games versus Texas. This is the teams’ fifth meeting—at a fourth different location—in the last four seasons after they had not played at all since 11/24/07.
• Rick Barnes, the head coach at Texas for 17 years (1998-2015), is 5-3 in games between Texas and Tennessee. He went 2-2 with the Longhorns and is 3-1 with the Vols.
• Texas head coach Rodney Terry worked for Rick Barnes as an assistant from 2002-11, while assistant coach Frank Haith did so from 2001-04 and fellow assistant Chris Ogden did so from 2008- 16 (seven years at Texas, one at Tennessee). All three are among the 13 former Barnes assistants who have become head coaches.
• Rick Barnes is one of 19 coaches to win 200-plus games at two DI schools. He tallied 402 victories at Texas and has 227 at Tennessee.
• The Longhorns, 3-1 in their last four games, tied for No. 13 in their first year in the SEC.
• Freshman guard Tre Johnson, an AP First Team All-SEC pick, paces Texas with an SEC-best 20.1 ppg.
