Vols Gear Up For Another Ranked Opponent as 20th Ranked Illinois Visits Rocky Top

(utsports.com) KNOXVILLE, Tenn. – The 17th-ranked Tennessee basketball team is geared up for its first home ranked matchup of the season as it faces No. 20 Illinois at noon ET Saturday at Food City Center.
Fans can catch Saturday’s game between the Vols (5-3) and Illini (7-1) on CBS. Rich Waltz, (play-by-play), Bill Raftery (analyst) and Jay Wright (analyst) will have the call.

Those attending Saturday’s sold-out contest should be advised that Phillip Fulmer Way is closed. G-10 parking passholders should enter from Neyland Drive to the parking garage & should avoid using Lake Loudoun Blvd.

Playing its first home game in three weeks, Tennessee defeated George Mason, 87-66, Tuesday night at Food City Center.

Junior forward Jonas Aidoo paced No. 17/13 Tennessee (5-3) with a career- and game-best 17 points on 7-of-11 shooting, adding a game-leading eight rebounds and a career-high-tying four assists, as the Volunteers trailed for just 51 seconds.

THE MATCHUP
• All three games in the all-time series, which is returning after a 35-year hiatus, have been won by the home team. Tennessee claimed victories on 12/15/67 and 12/10/85, followed by an Illinois victory on 1/17/88.
•  Illinois, picked fourth in the Big Ten after going 20-13 (11-9) and making the NCAA Tournament last year, enters on a five-game winning streak after a pair of Quad 1 victories.
•  The Fighting Illini are led by fifth- year guard Terrence Shannon Jr.’s 21.6 ppg, a figure that ranks No. 13 nationally.
•  Tennessee owns a 26-38 all-time record against current Big Ten programs, while Rick Barnes is 32- 33 against that group, including 4-6 with the Volunteers.
•  Illinois is one of five current Big Ten teams Tennessee has an all-time winning record against, alongside Iowa (3-2), Maryland (3-2), Minnesota (1-0) and Rutgers (2-0). It is also one of three Barnes is over .500 against as a head coach, joining Iowa (4-1) and Nebraska (10-4).

NEWS & NOTES
• Tennessee is on a 24-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 and Kansas during that stretch.
• Tuesday’s victory over George Mason gave Rick Barnes a win over a 198th different program in his head coaching career. The 197th team he beat, Texas, was also a school he was the coach at.
• The Volunteers will be in both the first and last CBS Saturday basketball broadcast of the 2023- 24 regular season.
• Including exhibitions, Tennessee has already played three Big Ten teams, all away from home, this year. The Volunteers won, 89-88, at then-fourth-ranked Michigan State on 10/29/23 in an exhibition contest. On 11/10/23, UT began regular season road play with an 80-70 triumph at Wisconsin, its first-ever regular season true road win over a Big Ten team. Most recently, the Vols fell, 71-67, to then-second-ranked Purdue in the Maui Invitational semifinals.
• This is the fourth time in program history Tennessee is playing four AP-ranked teams in a five-game span. Most recently, in Jan. 2012, it faced #13 Florida (home win), #20 Mississppi State (road loss), #2 Kentucky (home loss) and #13 Connecticut (home win) in a five- game stretch. In Jan./Feb. 2004, the Vols had seven such foes in a nine-game span and went 2-5 in those outings. The other occassion was Feb./March 2002 to close the regular season and UT went 1-3 in those affairs. This is the first time the Vols are doing so exclusively in non-conference play and their first time doing so while ranked as well. It is also UT’s third time doing so with all four foes in the AP top 20 (2012 and 2002).
• Illinois will be the fifth current KenPom top-15 team Tennessee plays this season, including the first at home. The Volunteers have already met #2 Purdue (N), #11 Wisconsin (A), #12 Kansas (N), and #15 North Carolina (A), posting a 1-3 record.

POLL PRESENCE
• Tennessee has played 175 games as a ranked team in the AP Poll under Rick Barnes, posting a stellar 129-46 (.737) record. Over 63.5 percent of the Volunteers’ games since Barnes arrived in 2015-16 have come with the team ranked in the AP Poll.
• Furthermore, UT owns a 108-41 (.725) record while ranked in the AP top 20 during Barnes’ tenure, a 78-28 (.736) mark while in the top 15, a 60-19 (.759) ledger while in the top 10, a 25-7 (.781) tally while in the top five, a 17-2 (.895) record while in the top three and a 7-1 (.875) mark while ranked No. 1.
• The Vols are 21-20 (.512) in top-25 matchups under Barnes, including 16-13 (.552) with both teams in the top 20, 9-7 (.562) with both in the top 15 and 6-5 (.545) with both in the top 10.

RACKING UP RANKED WINS
• Over the past four seasons (2020-24), Tennessee leads all SEC teams in AP top-25 wins with 15, a figure that is co-eighth nationally. It is also tied for with Arkansas for first among SEC schools in AP top- 10 victories with seven, placing co-fifth nationally. The Volunteers’ five AP top-five wins over that span are tied for the most of any team in the country.
• The seven AP top-10 triumphs during that time are: #1 Alabama (2/15/23), #3 Kansas (11/25/22), #3 Auburn (2/26/22), #4 Kentucky (2/15/22), #5 Kentucky (3/12/22), #6 Arizona (12/22/21) and #10 Texas (1/28/23).
• Over the last four seasons (2020-24), Tennessee has played a league-high 29 games against AP Top 25 opponents, going 15-14 (.517). The Vols are one of only two SEC teams, regardless of number of games, with a winning record against ranked foes during that span, joining Alabama (13-12, .520).
• Tennessee (29), Arkansas (27) and Alabama (25) are the only SEC teams to play over two-dozen ranked opponents since the start of the 2020-21 campaign.

WINNING WAYS
• Over the last seven seasons, dating back to the start of the 2017-18 campaign, Tennessee leads all SEC programs in total victories (149) and postseason wins (15), while placing a close second in winning percentage (.713). During that span, the Vols have captured a pair of SEC championships, winning the regular season in 2018 and the tournament in 2022.
• In that same seven-year stretch, the Vols are one of only two SEC teams with an overall winning percentage above .700, alongside Auburn (.715).
• In regular season SEC play over the same six-year period, the Vols own a league-best .706 winning percentage and stand alongside Kentucky as the only programs to log at least 70 league victories.
• Over the last three seasons only, 2021-24, UT owns a 57-22 (.722) overall record. No SEC team has a better winning percentage during that span, while only Texas A&M (59) has more victories.

HAPPY AT HOME
• Food City Center has proven to be one of the most difficult venues for opposing teams to win at in recent years. Over the last four seasons, since 2020- 21, the Vols are 46-5 (.902) at home.
•  Fifth-year guard Josiah-Jordan James owns a 57-11 (.838) mark at Food City Center during his career. Over half of those home setbacks (six) came during his freshman year in 2019-20. Fellow fifth-year guard Santiago Vescovi is 51-9 (.850) at home since his first appearance on 1/4/20, following his midyear enrollmenmt. Four of his nine losses came during his freshman season in 2019-20.
• During eight seasons under head coach Rick Barnes, the Vols are 111-22 (.835) at Food City Center. Twice during the Barnes era, UT has gone undefeated at home: 18-0 in 2018-19 and 16-0 in 2021-22.