Tennessee basketball opens up play at the SEC Tournament in Nashville on Friday afternoon where they’ll face Mississippi State in the quarterfinals.
As the Vols chase the final one-seed in the NCAA Tournament, facing Mississippi State gives Tennessee a chance to earn another Quad 1 win and to return to the SEC Tournament Semifinals after falling in the quarterfinals last season.
Here’s everything to know about the conference tournament matchup.
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How to Watch – No. 5 Tennessee (24-7, 14-4 SEC) vs Mississippi State (20-12, 8-10 SEC)
- Start Time: 1 p.m. ET/noon CT
- Location: Bridgestone Arena
- TV: ESPN. PxP: Karl Ravech. CC: Jimmy Dykes, Sideline: Marty Smith
- Online Streaming: Watch ESPN
- Radio (Knoxville): The Vol Network/The Vol Network App
Betting Lines
- Tennessee -9 Mississippi State
- Over/under: 141.5
- Tennessee -7 Mississippi State
- Over/under: 143
What Tennessee HC Rick Barnes Said About SEC Tournament
On the benefit of having almost a full week between games entering the SEC Tournament
“I hope it’s been good for us. Last time we had our bye week prior, I think Missouri I think is where it was. I thought we were a little bit slow getting going. But I feel like this time of the year, I think most teams needs, you need a rest, probably emotionally as much as anything just to be able to come down a little bit. And today’s a big day for us. We’ve got to get back at it and get prepared for whoever we are going to see on Friday.”
On if there is an upside to playing for a No. 1 seed or if there’s not a difference between being a No. 1 or a No. 2 seed
“What I would say, you hear all the different people, ‘Hey, conference tournaments can wear you out, this, that, or whatever. I don’t think any player or coach has ever gone into a game and think, ‘well, you benefit by losing.’ I don’t think that, but when you’re where we are in the year that we’ve had, I just think you can go take care of business and business will take care of itself. We could talk about it, discuss it. With the way the term tournament is now, where we’ve seen every seed beat the other one, I’m not sure if it does or doesn’t matter. What matters more is probably the matchups you’re matched up against when the bracket comes out. That probably plays more of a role in it than seeds.”
Probable Starters
Tennessee (via recent games):
G — Zakai Zeigler
G — Santiago Vescovi
G — Dalton Knecht
F — Josiah-Jordan James
F — Jonas Aidoo
Mississippi State (via Thursday’s game over LSU)
G — Josh Hubbard
G — Dashawn Davis
F — Cameron Matthews
F — D.J. Jeffries
F — Tolu Smith
Team Statistics (via Sports Reference)
Tennessee:
Mississippi State:
