Hoops Central: #8/6 [4] Tennessee vs. [13] Texas
Courtesy / UT Athletics

Hoops Central: #8/6 [4] Tennessee vs. [13] Texas

NASHVILLE, Tenn. – Beginning postseason action as the No. 4 seed in the SEC Tournament, No. 8/6 Tennessee is set to face No. 13 seed Texas in the event’s quarterfinal round Friday afternoon at Bridgestone Arena in Nashville. Tipoff is slated for 3:30 p.m. ET.

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THE LATEST FROM THE VOLS

 Zeigler on Two CollegeInsider.com NPOY Award Finalist Lists, Lanier Tabbed to OneZeigler, Mashack and Lanier Tabbed Finalists for CollegeInsider.com AwardsZeigler, Mashack Among 10 Naismith Defensive Player of the Year SemifinalistsLanier, Zeigler Selected as The Sporting News Third Team All-AmericansLanier Named AP First Team All-SEC, Zeigler a Second-Teamer
Fans can catch Friday’s game between the Volunteers (25-6) and Longhorns (19-14) on ESPN. Dan Shulman (play-by-play), Jay Bilas (analyst) and Jess Sims (reporter) will have the call. Fans can also listen live on their local Vol Network affiliate to hear Bob Kesling and Bert Bertelkamp describing the action.

In its most recent action, Tennessee concluded the regular season by defeating South Carolina, 75-65, Saturday afternoon at a sold-out Food City Center.

On a day it honored seven seniors, UT got a game-high 23 points from one of them, fifth-year guard Chaz Lanier, who had 20 after the break. The triumph sealed the program’s fourth consecutive 25-win campaign and third-ever 25-win regular season.


THE MATCHUP
• Tennessee is 5-2 its the last seven games versus Texas. This is the teams’ fifth meeting—at a fourth different location—in the last four seasons after they had not played at all since 11/24/07.
• Rick Barnes, the head coach at Texas for 17 years (1998-2015), is 5-3 in games between Texas and Tennessee. He went 2-2 with the Longhorns and is 3-1 with the Vols.
• Texas head coach Rodney Terry worked for Rick Barnes as an assistant from 2002-11, while assistant coach Frank Haith did so from 2001-04 and fellow assistant Chris Ogden did so from 2008- 16 (seven years at Texas, one at Tennessee). All three are among the 13 former Barnes assistants who have become head coaches.
• Rick Barnes is one of 19 coaches to win 200-plus games at two DI schools. He tallied 402 victories at Texas and has 227 at Tennessee.
• The Longhorns, 3-1 in their last four games, tied for No. 13 in their first year in the SEC.
• Freshman guard Tre Johnson, an AP First Team All-SEC pick, paces Texas with an SEC-best 20.1 ppg.

NEWS & NOTES
• Tennessee’s Bryan Lentz worked for Barnes at Texas for four years (2010-14) and Garrett Medenwald did so for three years (2012-15).
• Barnes is one of seven to lead two DI schools to an AP No. 1 ranking. He took Texas to its first/only spots atop the poll in Jan. 2010 and did it at UT in 2018-19 and 2024-25.
• UT made the final in three of the last six SEC Tournaments. It fell in 2018 and 2019, then won in 2022.
• The Vols are 74-58 (.561) in SEC Tournament play, with five titles. They are 11-7 (one title) under Rick Barnes. More info is on Page 9.
• Tennessee finished top-four in the SEC for the seventh time in eight years, including the fifth in a row.
• Chaz Lanier and Zakai Zeigler are the lone teammates on the Wooden Award Top 15 National Ballot and on The Sporting News All-America Team. The only other All-America duo in UT history is Ernie Grunfeld and Bernard King.
• Jahmai Mashack (Field of 68 NDPOY) and Zakai Zeigler (two- time SEC DPOY) form the lone teammate duo among the 10 Naismith NDPOY semifinalists.
• With 831 victories, Rick Barnes is tied with Cliff Ellis for No. 10 all- time (min. 10 years in DI).
• Zakai Zeigler needs four assists to break the UT single-season record of 227, set by Rodney Woods in 1974-75. The four would also give him 700 as a collegian and make him the fourth SEC player, including the second Vol—Johnny Darden had 715 from 1975-79—to hit that mark. He is seven away from entering the top 10 on the the SEC’s single-season list (231).
• Tennessee has 25 wins for the ninth time, including the sixth under Rick Barnes and fourth in a row. This is UT’s third time reaching 25 in the regular season alone. The only other schools with 25-plus wins each of the last four years are Drake, Duke, Gonzaga, Houston and Saint Mary’s.
• Tennessee’s 196 victories over the last eight seasons (2017-25) rank No. 11 in DI. Only Gonzaga (238), Houston (235), Duke (213), Kansas (212), Purdue (203), Saint Mary’s (199), San Diego State (198), Auburn (197), Drake (197) and Liberty (197) own more.

ALL-SEC ACCOLADES
• Zakai Zeigler and Chaz Lanier both won individual awards in the All-SEC voting from the league’s head coaches. Zeigler earned SEC Defensive Player of the Year plaudits for the second straight season, while Chaz Lanier claimed the inaugural SEC Newcomer of the Year honor.
• The league’s coaches tabbed Zeigler a First Team All-SEC competitor and Lanier a Second Team All- SEC designee. Zeigler is the 14th player in program history with at least three All-SEC nods that include two first-team choices. The others are Dale Ellis, Ernie Grunfeld, Allan Houston, Gilbert Huffman, Reggie Johnson, Bill Justus, Bernard King, Len Kosmalski, Chris Lofton, Dyron Nix, Paul “Lefty” Walther, Tony White and Ron Widby.
• Zeigler and Jahmai Mashack both made the cut for the coaches’ SEC All-Defensive Team. This is just the ninth season—10th instance—with multiple players from the same team receiving SEC All-Defensive Team honors, including the second in a row for UT.
• Meanwhile, in the Associated Press voting, Lanier collected First Team All-SEC distinction and Zeigler garnered Second Team All-SEC status.

A PAIR OF ALL-AMERICANS
• Chaz Lanier and Zakai Zeigler both earned The Sporting News Third Team All-America plaudits. No other school put multiple players on the list.
• Ernie Grunfeld and Bernard King, arguably the best duo to ever play together in the SEC, form the only other same-season All-American tandem in Tennessee history. They each earned All-America plaudits in both 1975-76 and 1976-77.
• Lanier and Zeigler are also the lone teammate pair on the Wooden Award Top 15 National Ballot, from which the Wooden All-Americans and Wooden Award winner will be selected.
• The two guards form one of just three teammate tandems to make the 30-man Lute Olson Award finalist list.
• Lanier and Zeigler are among the 30 players on the Naismith Trophy Midseason Team, one of just five teammate pairs on the list. Additionally, they are among seven teammate duos on 50-player USBWA Oscar Robertson Trophy Watch List.

RACKING UP RANKED VICTORIES
• TOP 25: In the past four years (2021-25), Tennessee’s 28 AP top-25 wins lead DI. Only Connecticut (26), Kansas (26), Iowa State (25) and Alabama (closest SEC team with 25) are even within four.
• TOP 20: Tennessee is co-first in the nation with 24 AP top-20 triumphs over that span, tying Connecticut (24). Only Kansas (22) is even within three, while the next SEC program is four shy (Alabama with 20).
• TOP 15: The Volunteers lead DI with 21 AP top-15 decisions over those four years. Kansas (20) is the lone school within three, while the closest SEC team (Alabama with 17) is four behind UT.
• TOP 10: Since 2021-22, Tennessee owns 11 AP top-10 wins, co-second in the SEC and co-fourth nationally, both alongside Kentucky (11). Only Connecticut (12), Iowa State (12) and Kansas (12) have more. The 11 wins in that time are against #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), #10 Texas (1/28/23), at #10 Kentucky (2/3/24), #5 Florida (2/1/25), at #7 Texas A&M (2/22/25) and #6 Alabama (3/1/25).
• TOP FIVE: In that same four-year span, UT has six AP top-five victories, tied with Alabama and Arizona for the most in the country. Only five other schools have even four: Iowa State (five), Florida (four), Gonzaga (four), Kentucky (four) and Purdue (four).

HIGH-CALIBER COMPANY
• Tennessee and Kansas are the only two schools to earn an AP top-five ranking in each of the last four seasons (2021-25). Only two others, Arizona and Purdue, entered 2024-25 with a three-year streak.
• The Volunteers are one of only four teams to reach the AP top six in each of the past five seasons, alongside Alabama, Houston and Kansas.
• UT is one of just five programs to reach the AP top six in at least six of the last seven seasons (2018- 25), alongside Duke, Gonzaga, Kansas and Kentucky. Those are also the only five schools to enter the AP top five in at least five different years in that stretch.
• The Vols are among only eight teams to reach the No. 1 spot in the AP Poll in at least two of the last seven seasons (2018-25), joining Auburn, Baylor, Duke, Gonzaga, Houston, Kansas and Purdue.
• Over that same seven-year stretch (2018-25), UT is also one of seven teams to claim an AP top-two position in at least three seasons, alongside Baylor, Connecticut, Duke, Gonzaga, Kansas and Purdue.
• UT is one of seven schools with an AP top-20 ranking in each of the last eight years (2017-25), alongside Duke, Gonzaga, Kansas, Kentucky, Michigan State and North Carolina. Just two others—Houston and Purdue—have even been AP top-25 each season.
• Additionally, over the last three years (2022-25), the Vols are one of just six teams to reach the AP top two in multiple seasons, joining Alabama, Connecticut, Duke, Kansas and Purdue.

PARTICULARLY POTENT AT HOME
• Under Rick Barnes, Tennessee is 23-8 (.742) versus AP top-25 teams at Food City Center, including 18-2 (.900) in its last 20 such games (since 1/30/21).
• The Volunteers are 18-7 (.720) at home against AP top-20 teams in the Barnes era, including 14-2 (.875) in their last 16 such contests (since 1/30/21).
• Tennessee has a 15-5 (.750) mark when hosting AP top-15 squads under Barnes, including a 13-2 (.867) record in its last 15 such affairs (since 1/30/21).
• Barnes has led UT to a 9-1 (.900) ledger at home versus AP top-10 teams, with eight straight wins (since 3/2/19). That includes perfect marks against AP top-six foes (8-0) and versus SEC teams (7-0).
• UT is a perfect 6-0 when hosting AP top-five teams in the Barnes era (all since 1/24/17). The six straight wins are an SEC record, per ESPN, surpassing the mark of five by Kentucky in 1978-84 and 1956-59.
• The Vols won 12 straight home games against AP top-25 foes from 1/30/21 to 2/28/24. That is an SEC record, per CBS Sports, and the longest in DI since Kansas had 17 straight from 1/11/14 to 2/13/17. Nine of those victories were versus top-15 foes, with five against the top 10 and three over top-five teams.
• Tennessee is 20-5 (.800) in AP top-25 home matchups under Barnes, including 14-5 (.737) with both teams in the top 20, 9-2 (.818) with both in the top 15 and 5-0 (1.000) with both in the top 10.

1.4K & 1K CLUBS
• Tennessee, Alabama and Ole Miss—all are in the SEC—are the only schools with four 1,400-point scorers. Just 11 others programs have even three.
• Tennessee is also one of 20 teams—seven are in the SEC—with at least five 1,000-point scorers.
• Jordan Gainey possesses 1,514 points in 131 contests, an average of 11.6 ppg over four years.
• Chaz Lanier owns 1,484 points across 135 outings, an 11.0 ppg ledger across five campaigns.
• Darlinstone Dubar has 1,453 points in 142 outings, good for 10.2 ppg across five seasons.
• Zakai Zeigler owns 1,444 points in 131 appearances, giving him an 11.0 ppg average in four seasons.
• Igor Miličić Jr., possesses 1,005 points across 112 games, good for a 10.1 ppg average in four years.

TOP-TIER TRIUMPHS
• Tennessee is 42-41 (.506) against AP top-25 foes under Rick Barnes, including 26-14 (.650) in its past 40 such games (since 1/22/22).
• The Volunteers are 36-33 (.522) versus AP top-20 teams in Barnes’ tenure, including 22-10 (.688) in their last 32 such affairs (since 1/22/22).
• UT is 28-26 (.519) against AP top-15 teams in the Barnes era, including 21-9 (.700) in its last 30 such games (since 12/22/21).
• The Vols own a 16-15 (.516) record versus AP top-10 foes under Barnes, including a 14-9 (.609) mark in their last 23 such contests (since 3/2/19) and an 11-6 (.647) tally in their last 17 (since 12/22/21).
• UT is 10-9 (.526) against AP top-five opponents in Barnes’ tenure, including 6-4 (.600) in its last 10 such affairs (since 2/15/22). It is 8-2 (.800) versus AP top-five SEC teams, including 7-1 (.875) in its last eight such outings (since 3/2/19).

SHOOTING TO SUCCEED
• Over the last four seasons (2021-25), Tennessee is 45-9 (.833) when hitting double-digit 3-pointers in a game, including 27-3 (.900) at home.
• During Rick Barnes‘ first six seasons on Rocky Top, 2015-16 to 2020-21, Tennessee was a strong 20-12 (.625) in such games, including 12-3 (.800) at home, but the last four years have been even better.

A SUPERB SIGN
• Tennessee is 133-15 (.899) under Rick Barnes when holding its opponent to 39.0 percent or worse field- goal shooting, including 72-8 (.900) when its foe shoots 35.0 or below. The Volunteers are a perfect 26-0 (1.000) in Barnes’ tenure when holding their opponent to a field-goal clip of 30.0 or under.

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