CBB Recap: Iowa State Continues To Surprise
Tennessee is less than a day away from its rivalry matchup with Memphis. Vols’ head coach Rick Barnes and point guard Kennedy Chandler talked to the media Friday night less than 20 hours away from the rivalry tilt.
Chandler — a Memphis native — committed to Tennessee over his hometown Tigers and a handful of blue blood programs.
The point guard said that he knew all but three players on the Memphis team and grew up playing against a plethora of their players.
Chandler also discussed what the game means to him, not making the matchup about himself and wanting to avenge UT’s loss to the Tigers in December of 2019.
Saturday’s game marks the third and final matchup of the current contract between the two teams. Barnes discussed the future of the matchup saying he’d like for the game to be played in Nashville moving forward.
“We’ve got to have a presence here so that’s what I’d like to see happen,” Barnes said. “We know this is the end of this series. I’m sure we’ll be in talks with them and continue to talk to them, but right now that schedule is not the forefront thing on their mind or ours right now. We’ll just see where it goes.”
Barnes also discussed Memphis’ power forward Jalen Duren, what he expects the environment to be like and the challenges the Tigers’ defense presents.
