The highly anticipated matchup between No. 4 Tennessee and No. 10 Texas in the Big-12/SEC Challenge tips off Saturday, January 28th at 6:00 pm ET on ESPN in Knoxville, Tennessee. This matchup will be one of the best games of this college basketball season between two top 10 teams in the country.
Texas and Tennessee both come off losses in the round of 32 in the 2021-March 22nd Madness Tournament, looking for bounce-back years - hopefully with deeper March implications. Both are hot to start the year, coming into this game as top-ten teams.
Tennessee is starting this year right where it left off in the 2021-2022 season. Tennessee is currently the 4th ranked team in the country, coming off finishing last season as the 5th rated team. They're looking to make a deep run in March Madness led by Senior Guard Santiago Vescovi. Tennessee will have to improve on the offensive side of the ball, being 47th in the country in offensive efficiency, to overcome Texas and make a run in March. Texas has been scoring the ball very well this year, and to keep up with them, they will need to shoot the ball very well despite Tennessee's top defense only giving up 54 points per game.
Despite head coach Chris Beard's firing, Texas has played excellent basketball this season. Interim head coach Rodney Terry took over as head coach on December 12th and has led the team to a 9-2 record since taking over as head coach. Texas leads the all-time series versus Tennessee with a 4-3 record. Texas has lost both games at the Thompson-Boiling Arena in Knoxville, TN. Texas will look to end that short losing streak in Knoxville led by Senior Guard Marcus Carr. Carr has shot the ball very well this year and looks to continue that against Tennessee despite them being ranked number one in defensive efficiency.
Both teams are looking to make a run at the National Championship Game in March Madness. Tennessee is hoping to keep their 2-0 record at home against Texas alive and push into the top 3, while Marcus Carr looks to stay hot and take down the No. 4 team in the country with hopes to lead Texas into the top five.
Tennessee is one of the loudest environments in basketball
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