No. 4 Tennessee vs. No. 13 Louisiana: How To Watch, Key Stats, Betting Odds

By Ryan Schumpert
- Mar 15, 2023

Tennessee basketball opens up NCAA Tournament play late Thursday night against 13-seed Louisiana in Orlando, Florida.

The Ragin’ Cajuns are back in the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 2014 and are back in the Big Dance after winning the Sun Belt Tournament last week.

Tennessee enters the NCAA Tournament coming off a short trip to the SEC Tournament that saw the Vols fall to Missouri in the quarterfinals. Rick Barnes’ eighth Tennessee team is undermanned and split its last six games entering the tournament.

Here’s everything you need to know on Tennessee’s NCAA Tournament opener.

More From RTI: Why Tennessee Basketball Will Or Won’t Make The Sweet 16

How to Watch – No. 4 Tennessee (23-10, 11-7 SEC) vs No. 13 Louisiana (26-7, 13-5 Sun Belt)

Start Time: 9:40 p.m. ET/8:40 p.m. CT
Location: Amway Arena
TV: CBS. PxP: Kevin Harlan, CC: Stan Van Gundy, Sideline and Dan Bonner: Tracy Wolfson
Online Streaming: CBS Live Stream
Radio (Knoxville): The Vol Network/The Vol Network App

Team Statistics (via KenPom)

Tennessee

Louisiana

What Rick Barnes Said About The Ragin’ Cajuns

On what stands out about Louisiana

“I have known Bob Marlin from certainly my time in Texas and his time there. Bob is a terrific basketball coach. A great offensive mind. His teams always are so sound. I think we have played them once or twice since we have been there. Jordan Brown, we recruited here. He is a McDonald’s All-American and a high-level player. Bob has done a terrific job with him, getting him and putting him in areas on the court where he can be really effective. Really good footwork. Knows what he is doing when he gets the ball. He has got good shooters around him, good point guard play, a really good facilitator. If you are in this tournament, you are good and you have had success. You ought to feel good. You ought to feel confident. I just have tremendous respect for Bob and what he has done with that program.”

On what makes Louisiana hard to defend

“Really good concepts. He puts his guys in great position to score the ball. He knows where he wants guys on the court and he gets them the ball where they need it and have a guy inside that can score a lot of points and got shooters on the outside. A point guard that knows what he is doing and who to get the ball to and when to get it there.”

On stopping big man Jordan Brown

“It will be a team effort with everybody. We don’t go in, but we are going to have to work hard with doing our work early and not letting him get the deep position that he wants. He has such terrific footwork. We are going to have to work hard and get other players to help where we can. It is all about our guys trying to do the work early and not get as deep as he wants to get it.”