Vols Host Winless Georgia Southern on Tuesday
(utsports.com) KNOXVILLE, Tenn. – The 12th-ranked Tennessee basketball team returns to action Tuesday night, facing Georgia Southern at 7 p.m. ET inside Food City Center.
Fans can catch Tuesday’s game between the Vols (6-3) and Eagles (0-9) on SEC Network. Tom Hart, (play-by-play) and Jimmy Dykes (analyst) will have the call.
The Vols turned a five-point second-half deficit into a 12-point lead Saturday afternoon en route to an 86-79 victory over No. 20/18 Illinois in a top-20 showdown at Food City Center.
Fifth-year guard Dalton Knecht scored 21 points, including 13 after halftime, to pace a quintet of double-digit scorers for Tennessee in front of a sold-out crowd.
THE MATCHUP• Georgia Southern is the first of three teams on Tennessee’s schedule this season it has never faced before, alongside Tarleton State (12/21/23) and Norfolk State (1/2/24).• The Eagles are also the second of four teams on the Volunteers’ schedule Rick Barnes has not faced as a head coach, joining George Mason (12/5/23), Tarleton State (12/21/23) and Norfolk State (1/2/24).• Georgia Southern was tabbed No. 13 in the Sun Belt preseason poll after losing three of its top four scorers from a group that finished 17-16 (9-9) last year.• The Eagles’ leading scorer in senior guard Tyren Moore, who is putting up 11.9 ppg.• Tennessee is 31-5 all-time against current Sun Belt programs and has a winning record against every school it has faced. Rick Barnes is a perfect 31-0 against the league’s current membership with wins over eight different schools, including owning a 5-0 mark with the Volunteers.NEWS & NOTES• Prior to joining the Volunteers as a volunteer assistant in 2021-22, current assistant coach Gregg Polinsky‘s last job in the college ranks was as the head coach at Georgia Southern for four years, 1995-99. He took the team from three wins in his first year to double-digit triumphs in each of the next three. Polinsky then worked in the NBA (Nets and Pistons) for the next 22 years before coming to Tennessee.• Tennessee is on a 25-game non- conference home winning streak, dating back to the 2020-21 season opener (11/8/20), with victories over schools such as Arizona, Cincinnati, Colorado, Illinois and Kansas during that stretch.• A victory over Georgia Southern would give Rick Barnes wins over 199 DI teams in his head coaching career. The last two additions to the list, George Mason (12/5/23) and Texas (1/28/23), were places he coached at.• With 785 career victories, Rick Barnes is one away from tying Lefty Driesell for No. 15 on the all- time wins list (min. five years DI).• With its 86-79 victory over #20/18 Illinois (12/9/23), the Volunteers improved to 15-6 (.714) against ranked teams at Food City Center under Rick Barnes, including 13-5 (.722) versus AP top-20 foes. Tennessee has won 10 consecutive home games against ranked teams, dating back to 1/30/21 against #15/18 Kansas.• Josiah-Jordan James posted 12 points, a career-high seven assists and six rebounds in the win over the Fighting Illini, becoming the first Volunteer with at least 12p/7a/6r against a top-20 foe since Lamonté Turner (16p/8a/7r) on 11/16/19 against #20/RV Washington at Scotiabank Arena in Toronto.• Dalton Knecht, the SEC’s second- leading scorer, has scored 16-plus points and paced Tennessee in scoring in seven of his first nine games as a Volunteer. He has tallied 20-plus points in three outings, including two of the past three. The fifth-year guard has totaled double-digit points in 10 of the 18 halves he has played as a Volunteer.
