The Official #23 Tennessee vs. Auburn Game Thread, 7:00 PM ET, ESPNU

[YankeeVol]

#23 Tennessee Volunteers: 9-3 (0-1 SEC)

vs.


Auburn Tigers: 12-1 (0-0 SEC)

JAN. 2 » THOMPSON-BOLING ARENA » KNOXVILLE, TENN. » 7:01 PM ET


Line: UT -6
O/U: 155


TV: ESPNU
Radio: Vol Network
Satellite Radio: Sirius: 137, XM: 190
Online: WatchESPN.com

 

[YankeeVol]

• Overall: UT leads, 78-38

• In Knoxville: UT leads, 48-7

• In Auburn: AU leads, 27-23

• Neutral Sites: UT leads, 7-4

• Current Streak: Tennessee has won three straight

• Last Meeting: Tennessee won, 87-77, in Auburn, 1/31/17

• Rick Barnes vs. Auburn: 3-1

• Rick Barnes vs. Bruce Pearl: Barnes leads, 4-3

 

[YankeeVol]

• Tennessee's three losses have come to teams with RPIs of No. 4 (UNC), No. 6 (Arkansas) and No. 7 (Villanova).

• The Vols are rated No. 11 in the NCAA RPI and own the nation's eighth-rated SOS, per ESPN.

• Tennessee owns a +16.7 scoring margin at home while holding visiting opponents to 62.7 points per game

• Jordan Bowden leads the SEC with a .619 3-point percentage.

 

[YankeeVol]

• Prevent the Vols from suffering their first back-to-back losses of the season.

• Give Tennessee 11 consecutive home wins over Auburn. The Tigers' last win in Knoxville came on Jan. 7, 1998 (74-69).

• Give the Vols four wins over teams with a top-100 RPI. Auburn's RPI stands at No. 30.

• Snap Auburn's current 10-game winning streak, which dates to Nov. 19.

 

[YankeeVol]

• Tennessee's conference home opener comes against Bruce Pearl and his Auburn squad, who are winners of their last 10 games and own one of the best records in the SEC at 12-1.

• Auburn boasts wins over UConn, Middle Tennessee and Dayton this season. The only blemish on the schedule came at the hands of Temple, who has also defeated Clemson, South Carolina and Wisconsin.

• Auburn is paced by guards Bryce Brown and Mustapha Heron on offense, as the duo averages 30.3 ppg. Brown is the workhorse for the Tigers, playing more than 31 minutes per game. Heron is shooting 45 percent (61-of-137) from the field and is snagging 5.6 rebounds per game.

• Jared Harper can score from anywhere on the floor or can find a teammate for an easy basket, posting 12.2 ppg and 5.5 apg, which ranks second in the SEC.

• Forward Desean Murray is averaging 10.8 ppg and a team-leading 7.4 rpg. Fellow forward Anfernee McLemore rounds out Auburn's starting five. Through non-conference play, he was tallying 8.5 ppg, 6.2 rpg and an SEC-leading 3.4 bpg.

• The Tigers' strong suit comes on the offensive end of the floor, posting 86.8 points a game (the conference's second-highest mark). They lead the SEC in both offensive rebounding (13.4) and 3-pointers made (9.8) per game. While it boasts a high-scoring offense, Auburn works to keep its opponents from scoring, leading the SEC in blocks per game (6.8) and ranking tied for fourth in steals per game (7.2).

 

[sport3500]

Could this possibly be CBP's last season at Auburn because of the FBI investigation that nabbed former Auburn assistant Chuck Person as one of the culprits?

 

[Thunder Good-Oil]

• In Knoxville: UT leads, 48-7

^^^^ pretty amazing stat... especially considering the state of TN BB over the last 30 years.

 

[bleedingTNorange]

Point blank...need to win this game.

 

[volsarelife1]

Finally a game that's opposite of my work schedule. Actually going to this one.

 

[Thunder Good-Oil]

Traffic will be trouble with a 7pm tip the day after a 3-day, holiday weekend. Parking should be easy with school out though.

 

[volsarelife1]

Traffic will be horrible for a 6pm tip. Parking should be easy with school out though.

I'll probably just do like I normally do and park at the she building and ride the shuttle

 

[BruinVol]

Traffic will be horrible for a 6pm tip. Parking should be easy with school out though.

Isn't it 7pm?

 

[Thunder Good-Oil]

Isn't it 7pm?

Yes. Good catch. k:

 

[VolsSportsFan]

Point blank...need to win this game.

Absolutely.

 

[calban]

i think we'll cover.

 

[CladInOrange]

Must win, and will make the UK game that much bigger.

 

[RollerVol]

thanks YV...gotta stop Brown...he good...

GO VOLS!

 

[BruinVol]

Must win, and will make the UK game that much bigger.

Not a must win. Have to win one game this week. If we are only going to win one I want it to be Kentucky.


I think we win both

 

[orangemadam]

Going to be very hard to beat Auburn with their press. We don't handle inbounds press very well, which is what Pearl loves to do. It cost us the games against Arky and NC.

 

[Dallasbowlin]

Really scared about this one. Has potential to get ugly.

 

[BruinVol]

Going to be very hard to beat Auburn with their press. We don't handle inbounds press very well, which is what Pearl loves to do. It cost us the games against Arky and NC.

Yea we had the one memorable inbounds issue but it's not like Arkansas hurt us with their pressure other than a few times. We only had 13 TOs

 

[Special Ed]

Could this possibly be CBP's last season at Auburn because of the FBI investigation that nabbed former Auburn assistant Chuck Person as one of the culprits?

No. Bruce has the support of his administration.
But it is definitely the end of Chuck Person at Auburn.

 

[VolsSportsFan]

Not a must win. Have to win one game this week. If we are only going to win one I want it to be Kentucky.


I think we win both

Disagree; gotta hold serve at home. Plus I think if we lose this one we likely lose against UK too.

 

[Dallasbowlin]

Disagree; gotta hold serve at home. Plus I think if we lose this one we likely lose against UK too.

Agree. Need a win bad tonight.

 

[Dallasbowlin]

Last check the Uk game was almost sold out, fwiw