LEXINGTON, Ky. – After earning a No. 2 seed in the 2025 NCAA Tournament bracket, the sixth-ranked Tennessee men’s basketball team begins its seventh consecutive trip to the Big Dance Thursday at Rupp Arena. Tipoff is slated for 6:50 p.m. ET
Fans can catch Thursday’s game between the Volunteers (27-7) and Terriers (19-15) on TNT. Brian Anderson (play-by-play), Jim Jackson (analyst) and Allie LaForce (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. Coverage begins at 6:15pm eastern on 103.1FM WIKQ.
In its most recent action, Tennessee dropped an 86-77 decision to second-seeded Florida in the SEC Tournament title game Sunday afternoon at Bridgestone Arena.
UT cut a 12-point deficit in the final 10 minutes down to five, but could not climb all the way back in the top-10 matchup with the third-ranked Gators. Senior guards Jordan Gainey (game-high 24) and Zakai Zeigler (23) both tallied season-best point totals in the program’s 14th SEC Tournament final appearance.
THE MATCHUP
• UT is 8-0 all-time against Wofford, with three matchups coming in 1952-53 or 1953-54. The two have met just five times in 70 years since, with last year’s game the only one in the past two decades.
• Wofford is one of four schools, two of which are DI institutions (both in the SoCon), the Volunteers are 8-0 or better against, alongside Lincoln Memorial (16-0), Emory & Henry (11-0) and Furman (11-0).
• Tennessee owns a 99-17 all-time record versus the current SoCon membership and has defeated all 10 teams at least twice.
• Rick Barnes is 25-1 in his career against current SoCon schools, good for his co-second-most wins without multiple losses versus any league. He is 10-1 at Tennessee, with the lone setback on 11/11/16 versus Chattanooga, 82-69.
• UT’s Jordan Gainey and Wofford’s Justin Bailey were teammates at USC Upstate in 2022-23.
• The Terriers, seeded sixth, earned three victories in three days to win the SoCon Tournament.
• Senior guard Corey Tripp leads Wofford with 14.3 ppg and 3.2 apg.
