The Official #21 Tennessee vs. Florida A&M Game Thread, 7:00 PM ET, SEC Network

[YankeeVol]

#21 Tennessee Volunteers: 6-1 (0-0 SEC)

vs.

Florida A&M Rattlers: 0-6 (0-0 MEAC)

GAME 8 | TENNESSEE vs. FLORIDA A&M - Dec. 4, 2019 | 7:01 p.m. ET | Thompson-Boling Arena (21,678)


Line: UT: -30.5
O/U: 130

TV: SEC Network / Watch
Radio: Vol Network / Listen
Satellite Radio: XM: 190
Online: ESPN App

Florida A&M Game Notes

 

[YankeeVol]

THE SERIES

• Tennessee has never previously met Florida A&M on the collegiate hardwood.
• Tennessee is 3-0 all-time against current members of the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference.
• Rick Barnes also has never previously faced Florida A&M, but he is 7-0 in his career against current members of the MEAC.

 

[YankeeVol]

A WIN WOULD...

• Leave Rick Barnes' one win away from recording his 700th career head coaching victory.
• Give the Volunteers their 31st consecutive home win; it is the longest active home win streak in Division I.
• Give Tennessee a 54-15 record as a ranked team (AP rankings) during the Barnes era.

 

[YankeeVol]

STORYLINES

• Tennessee has won its last four home games against opponents from the state of Florida and has not lost in Thompson-Boling Arena to a team from the Sunshine State since the 2013-14 campaign.
• Including the Rattlers, two of Tennessee's last three opponents are based in Tallahassee, Florida. The Vols played Florida State last Friday.
• The Vols have won 14 consecutive non-conference home games dating to a loss to North Carolina on Dec. 17, 2017.
• The Big Orange are riding an 11-game win streak on the SEC Network.
• Tennessee has never lost a game for which Roy Philpott (4-0) or Mark Wise (4-0) were on the call.
• As the Vols move into the month of December, Rick Barnes' career record in the 12th month of the year stands at 169-48 (.779).

 

[YankeeVol]

LAYUP LINES

• Tennessee is ranked No. 21 in this week's AP poll and No. 20 in the current coaches poll.
• After this game, the Vols have nine days until their next outing, a home game against in-state foe Memphis on Dec. 14.
• Tennessee leads the SEC and ranks ninth in the country with 6.3 blocks per game.
• Yves Pons has 18 total blocks through six games this season. His 2.6 bpg leads the SEC.
• Josiah-Jordan James leads the Vols and ranks 12th in the SEC with 7.1 rebounds per game. He is the top-rebounding freshman in the league.
• John Fulkerson is shooting a team-best .725 from the field (29 of 40) while averaging a career-best 10.9 points per game. He leads the SEC with a "true shooting percentage" of .726.
• Jordan Bowden is a perfect 9-for-9 from the free-throw line over the last two games.

 

[YankeeVol]

ABOUT FLORIDA A&M

• Florida A&M is a Historically Black University located in Tallahassee, Florida. It opened in 1887.
• Florida A&M is off to a rough start in 2019-20, losing its first six games to open the year—all but one by double digits.
• The Rattlers are coming off a 2018-19 campaign that saw leaps and bounds of improvement, as FAMU finished 9-7 in MEAC play. It was the first time it had finished above .500 in conference action since 2007-08, an 11-year run that spanned the tenure of four different head coaches.
• FAMU looks to continue to hang its hat on its play on the defensive side of the court, where they saw more than a 16-point decrease in points allowed per game in MEAC play, from 2017-18 (79.1 ppg) to 2018-19 (62.5 ppg).
• The Rattlers look to lean on junior D.J. Jones for scoring in the paint, while freshman Jamir Williams' potent athleticism should help provide an immediate impact in jumpstarting FAMU's offense.
• Junior Bryce Moragne returns to Tallahassee this winter after primarily coming off the bench in 2018-19. While he continues to contribute off the bench this season, the 6-5 small forward can play four positions on the court and could be a huge asset for the Rattlers given his flexibility.
• The school's Rattler mascot is one based in folklore. When the school relocated to Hollywood Plantation in 1891, the rural landscape had an abundance of snakes, especially rattle snakes. This is how the mascot name, "The Rattlers" was chosen.
• Notable alumni include former professional tennis player Althea Gibson, who was the first African American woman to win the Wimbledon women's singles crown, when she did so in 1957.

 

[YankeeVol]

NATION'S LONGEST HOME WIN STREAK

• Tennessee is riding a 30-game home win streak that is the longest active streak among Division I teams.
• The streak dates to the 2017-18 season. The Vols won their final eight games at Thompson-Boling Arena that year before going 18-0 at home last season.
• Tennessee's last loss in Knoxville was a 94-84 loss to Auburn on Jan. 2, 2018.
• The program record for consecutive home wins is 37 (2006-09). The current streak is the third-longest in UT history. The Vols have also authored a home win streaks of 33 games (1966-68).

 

[Vol49er]

Seeing that 37 consecutive home wins is the record here at UT, if we were to keep winning at home that would set us up to beat the record and achieve 38 consecutive home wins on February 8th against.... Kentucky. That’d be something

 

[chuckb1448]

Should be a relatively easy game, hoping they give the nod to James to make something happen on Offense to see what he can do and hopefully gain a bit of confidence.

Hope I didn't jinx us...

Go Big Orange!

 

[Special Ed]

This would be a good game to release the Kraken in JJJ:

 

[Tennesseefan2019]

The BasketVols will win this 96-65

 

[bleedingTNorange]

One of the worst teams in D1, this game shouldn’t be close if we come out ready to play...something like 78-50.

 

[YankeeVol]

Should easily be a 20-25+ point victory.

 

[RollerVol]

everybody plays tonight...

GO BIG ORANGE!

 

[Dallasbowlin]

magic seems to finally getting comfortable on the offensive end, hope he can put together a solid complete game tonight.

 

[YankeeVol]

 

[YankeeVol]

magic seems to finally getting comfortable on the offensive end, hope he can put together a solid complete game tonight.

Didn’t know he had any eligibility left

 

[Catbone]

I want to see Turner stop the turnovers and a lot of freshman building confidence. That's it.

 

[cardvolfan]

Rattlers are scary. I'm not going to get too close to any of them tonight.

 

[Dallasbowlin]

Didn’t know he had any eligibility left

I refuse to call JJJ anything but magic. lol I will speak it into existence.

 

[VolAmerican]

I want to see Turner stop the turnovers and a lot of freshman building confidence. That's it.

Yeah, Turner is better playing off the ball IMO. Hoping we can add a true PG in Vescovi soon or JJJames makes signifiant progress.

 

[ttocswob]

Snakes alive! This one oughtta be good, for bench minutes, anyway GBO!!!

 

[VolGee4]

Seeing that 37 consecutive home wins is the record here at UT, if we were to keep winning at home that would set us up to beat the record and achieve 38 consecutive home wins on February 8th against.... Kentucky. That’d be something

Hate to say it, but my count is that they can break it against Texas A&M on January 28. UK is the next home game.

The other interesting thing is that Rick can win his 700th game against...Penny.

 

[sport3500]

This game should be a blowout like the Alabama A&M game was.

 

[nirwin]

I'm really not sure why we scheduled this one. Oh well, at least it's on the SEC Network with no games on before it, meaning any complaints about the placement of the TV broadcast should be minimal.