No. 12 Tennessee will take on North Carolina State this Saturday night in San Antonio, Texas, as part of the Hall of Fame Series.
The Vols (7-3) and the Wolfpack (7-2) will square off at 10:00 p.m. ET from the Frost Bank Center on ESPN2.
Tennessee and NC State are both looking for their fourth consecutive win on Saturday as the Vols have victories over George Mason, Illinois, and Georgia Southern while the Wolfpack has taken down UT Martin, Maryland-Eastern Shore, and Boston College in the month of December.
One of NC State’s best players is forward DJ Burns, who was previously at Tennessee during the 2018-2019 season. Burns redshirted that season but transferred to Winthrop after the conclusion of it. Burns played at Winthrop for three seasons and is now in his second year at NC State. Burns is currently averaging 13.3 points, 5.8 rebounds, and 2.6 assists per game on 53.4 percent shooting from the field.
“D.J. can score. We knew that when we recruited him,” Barnes said about Burns on Friday. “And a guy that, he’s got a really a soft touch around the basket. He can shoot the ball really out to 15 feet and obviously he’ll work hard to get his space where he wants it. And he’ll get it outside, around the 3-point line if he needs to, he’ll kind of crab dribble back down there to get to his position. I think he really understands where he’s effective on the court and he tries hard to get there.”
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In addition to Rick Barnes, Tennessee forward Tobe Awaka also spoke to the media on Friday. Check out both interviews below.
No. 12 Tennessee will take on NC State at 10:00 p.m. ET in San Antonio on Saturday night in the Hall of Fame Series.
Tennessee HC Rick Barnes
Tennessee F Tobe Awaka
