Tennessee basketball returns to the court on Saturday night where they’ll face Texas in the Round of 32 in the NCAA Tournament in Charlotte.
The Vols advanced to the second round by blowing out Saint Peter’s in the opening round on Thursday night while Texas’ defense suffocated Colorado State in an opening round victory.
Here’s everything to know about the NCAA Tournament matchup.
More From RTI: Scouting The Texas Longhorns Ahead Of Matchup Against Tennessee
How to Watch – No. 2 Tennessee (25-8, 14-4 SEC) vs No. 7 Texas (21-12, 9-9 Big 12)
- Start Time: 8 p.m. ET/7 P.M. CT
- Location: Spectrum Center
- TV: CBS. PxP: Brian Anderson. CC: Jim Jackson, Sideline: Allie LaForce
- Online Streaming: Watch TNT Live
- Radio (Knoxville): The Vol Network/The Vol Network App
Betting Lines
- Tennessee -6.5 Texas
- Over/under: 146.5
- Tennessee -5 Texas
- Over/under: 145
What Tennessee HC Rick Barnes Said About Texas
On what he remembers about hiring Rodney Terry as an assistant coach
“One thing I’ve always done since the time I’ve been able to be head coach, I’ve always relied on my assistant coaches to help hire who we hire because I think the chemistry of the staff is certainly one of the most important things. Frank had been with me, and I’d known Frank.
He was talking about Rodney. They were friends. He just always talked and said, hey, if we ever get a chance to hire someone, a young guy that I think is really, really good is Rodney. But I do remember that Frank told me that he — Frank did ask me what would happen if Rodney took the Oklahoma job. I just said out of my relationship and my respect for Kelvin — Kelvin and I have known each other forever. I said I wouldn’t do that. That’s just the way I thought at that time. Then a year later, we had an opening, and Rodney was the only guy we really talked to about it and hired him.”
On the comfort of having two elite defensive guards before facing Texas
“Again, it’s going to be more than those two. Certainly Max can get going. We recruited Tyrese. We know what he’s capable of obviously. Dylan Disu was in our league for a little bit and recruited Dylan. We know their personnel obviously.
One, it’s going to be very — they’re going to play extremely hard, expecting to be out there just like they did last night. They did a great job of really forcing their physicality, I thought, on Colorado State, and I expect pretty much the same thing. So we’ll have to be ready and have a number of different guys that can try to guard those guys.”
What Texas HC Rodney Terry Said About Tennessee
On if he would rather not play Tennessee in the NCAA Tournament because of his relationship with Rick Barnes
“I would completely agree with that. Coach is family to me. He’s one of my biggest mentors. He’s been incredible throughout my career. We love each other.
But we also, at the end of the day, I’m super competitive, he’s super competitive. When the game starts, it will be about our players and the guys on the floor.
That’s kind of the relationship we have. We talk often and congratulate. Last time I had interaction with him was congratulating him on winning the regular season conference. It’s always really hard to do. He has a great ball club this year.”
On what makes Tennessee guard Jahmai Mashack such an effective defender
