The Official #4 Tennessee vs. #9 Florida Atlantic NCAA Tournament Game Thread, 9:00 PM ET, TBS

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YankeeVol

YankeeVol

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Men's Basketball Championship - East Region - Sweet 16

#4 Tennessee Volunteers: 25-10 (11-7 SEC)
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vs.

#9 Florida Atlantic Owls: 33-3 (18-2 C-USA)
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GAME 36 | TENNESSEE vs. FAU - Thursday, March 23, 2023 | ~9 p.m. ET | New York, N.Y. | Madison Square Garden (20,789)


Line: UT -5
O/U: 129.5

TV: TBS / Watch
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Satellite Radio: SiriusXM: TBD / Internet: TBD
Online: March Madness Live App

FAU Game Notes

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#2
#2
THURSDAY'S MATCHUP

• Tennessee defeated FAU, 81-62, in Knoxville on Dec. 16, 2015, in the only previous meeting between these programs.
• Rick Barnes owns a 1-0 career head coaching record vs. FAU, and he is 22-1 all-time against current members of Conference USA.
• Tennessee AD Danny White and FAU AD Brian White are siblings. Their father, Kevin White, was the longtime AD at Duke (retired in 2021).
• The Vols are 5-1 against teams ranked in the top 15 of the AP poll this season but are 1-2 vs. teams ranked No. 25 at tipoff.
• None of Barnes' 53 previous NCAA Tournament games took place in New York. But in 1994, he led Providence to the Big East Conference Tournament title at Madison Square Garden.
• Tennessee has advanced past the Sweet Sixteen only once, beating Ohio State in 2010 before falling to Michigan State in the Elite Eight.
 
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#4
#4
NOTEWORTHY

• In its two NCAA Tournament games thus far, Tennessee has allowed just 53.5 points per game.
• Per KenPom.com, the Vols lead the country in defensive efficiency (87.0 points per 100 possessions).
• Tennessee also leads the nation in 3-point defense (.264) while ranking third nationally in both field-goal defense (.372) and scoring defense (57.8 ppg).
• Only five teams have reached the 70-point mark against these Vols.
• Tennessee is a perfect 22-0 this season when it holds its opponent to fewer than 60 points.
• The Vols haven't played with the rotation fully healthy since Feb. 8.
• With Tennessee's second-round triumph over Duke, Rick Barnes tied College Basketball Hall of Famer Lou Henson for 15th place on the all-time Division I coaching wins list (779 wins).
This is the fourth time during the Barnes era that the Vols have earned a seed of No. 4 or better in the Big Dance.
• This is Tennessee's fourth 25-win season under Barnes. The program has seven in its history.
 
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#6
#6
SATURDAY SCENARIOS

• Should Tennessee advance to the Elite Eight, the Vols would face either third-seeded Kansas State or seventh-seeded Michigan State. In Tennessee's only previous Elite Eight appearance (2010), UT fell to the Spartans in St. Louis.
• The Vols trail the all-time series with the Spartans, 2-5. And Rick Barnes owns a 4-5 coaching record vs. Michigan State.
• When Barnes' 2003 Texas team advanced to the Final Four, it did so by defeating No. 7 seed Michigan State in the Elite Eight, 85-76, at the Alamodome.
• In head-to-head matchups with MSU head coach Tom Izzo, Barnes owns a 4-5 record. All nine meetings took place during Barnes' tenure at Texas.
• Tennessee hosted Michigan State for a closed scrimmage on Oct. 23.
• Tennessee is 2-0 all-time against Kansas State, with home wins in 2014 and 2017. Barnes owns a 13-11 coaching record vs. K-State.
 
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#7
#7
ABOUT FLORIDA ATLANTIC

• Florida Atlantic (33-3) earned a No. 9 seed in the NCAA Tournament after winning the regular season and tournament titles in Conference USA. The Owls are riding a current nine-game win streak.
• FAU finished the season ranked No. 13 in the NET rankings and are currently ranked No. 21 by KenPom—second-highest of the four remaining teams in the East Region.
• FAU head coach Dusty May was named C-USA Coach of the Year, while sophomore guards Johnell Davis (13.9 ppg, 5.4 rpg) and Alijah Martin (13.1 ppg, 5.3 rpg) were first-team All-C-USA selections. Sophomore center Vladislav Goldin (10.4 ppg, 6.4 rpg) was third-team All-C-USA.
• The Owls and Vols faced three common opponents this season—Ole Miss, Florida and Florida Gulf Coast. FAU went 2-1 against those opponents, while Tennessee went 3-1.
 
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#8
#8
BACK TO THE BIG APPLE

• Tennessee owns an all-time record of 10-19 in the state of New York, dating to its debut there on Jan. 27, 1937 (a 30-24 loss at Long Island).
• In New York City, the Vols are 8-18 overall. Earlier this season, Tennessee beat 13th-ranked Maryland, 56-53, at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn (Dec. 11).
• The Vols are 7-9 all-time at the current Madison Square Garden.
• Injured Tennessee sophomore Zakai Zeigler is from nearby Wyandanch on Long Island. Freshman forward Tobe Awaka hails from Hyde Park.
• Tennessee has produced five basketball All-Americans from New York: Ed Wiener (Brooklyn), Ernie Grunfeld (Forest Hills), Bernard King (Brooklyn), Howard Wood (East Hampton) and current Philadelphia 76er Tobias Harris (Dix Hills).
 
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#9
#9
TENNESSEE IN THE NCAA TOURNAMENT

• The Vols are making their 25th all-time appearance in the NCAA Tournament. The Big Orange own a 25-25 (.500) NCAA Tournament record.
• The Vols are 1-0 in the First Four, 15-7 in first-round games, 8-9 in second-round games, 1-0 in the (short-lived) third-round, 1-7 in regional semifinals, 0-1 in regional finals and 0-1 in the now-defunct regional consolation round.
• This is the program's fifth NCAA berth and second Sweet Sixteen appearance under eighth-year head coach Rick Barnes.
• Tennessee's 25 NCAA Tournament berths are fourth-most among SEC programs.
• Since 2010, among SEC programs, only Kentucky (32) and Florida (19) have won more NCAA Tournament games than Tennessee (12).
 
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#10
#10
NINTH SWEET SIXTEEN

• This marks Tennessee's ninth Sweet Sixteen appearance. The Vols previously competed in the Round of 16 in 1967, 1981, 2000, 2007, 2008, 2010, 2014 and 2019.
• The Vols made their deepest tournament run in 2010, when they beat San Diego State (Kawhi Leonard), Ohio and Ohio State (Evan Turner) to advance to the Elite Eight, where they fell to Michigan State (Draymond Green).
 
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#17
#17
This game has massive implications to it. Do NOT underestimate FAU. My biggest concern is that we play down in our intensity from last week and get upset. This team is small and fast and will try to push tempo a LOT. We gotta dictate game speed and kill then on the boards and defensively, because they can flat shoot it.
 
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#19
#19
supersmo18 said:
This game has massive implications to it. Do NOT underestimate FAU. My biggest concern is that we play down in our intensity from last week and get upset. This team is small and fast and will try to push tempo a LOT. We gotta dictate game speed and kill then on the boards and defensively, because they can flat shoot it.
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You nailed it super. Their normal gait is 1 step faster than ours. We've got to stay ahead of them in transition D and keep our awesome movement on O from the Duke game to overwhelm them inside out and on the offensive glass. I'm concerned @ defensive rebounding due to the atypical nature of rebounding vs a fast 3 launching team. That can lead to a lot of long rebounds and 2nd chance points regardless of our size advantage. They'll bring the house!
 
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#23
#23
I think CUSA was undervalued this year. Just watched UAB and Vandy and was surprised at how quick UAB looked. Definitely were athletically on par with Vandy overall and quicker especially at guard. North Texas didn't look overmatched against Ok. State last night either. FAU looks legit and I'm curious as to how we match up with them especially controlling their guards.
 
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