The Tennessee basketball team was in Thompson-Boling Arena on Tuesday afternoon as the Vols prepare for their upcoming game against Villanova on Saturday.
Tennessee will play in the Hall of Fame Tip-Off Tournament this upcoming weekend. The tournament will consist of four teams ranked in the Top 25: No. 5 Villanova, No. 6 Purdue, No. 17 Tennessee, and No. 18 North Carolina.
Before the Vols’ practice on Tuesday, Tennessee head coach Rick Barnes spoke about the respect he has for Villanova and their head coach Jay Wright.
“Started watching tape on [Villanova],” Barnes said on Tuesday. “Certainly I have the utmost respect for Jay Wright. I think he’s a terrific basketball coach and has been for a long time. He’s certainly a wonderful person. When I look at his teams, I always appreciate watching guys grow within a program, and I go back to when we played them a couple years ago down in the Bahamas. Some guys on that team were role players then, and to see what they’ve developed into is just the ultimate compliment for Jay and his staff in terms of their player development. His guys are going to be competitive, they’re going to play hard, and that’s a chip off the block, because Jay’s a very competitive person and has done a great job building a great program.”
The winner of the Tennessee/Villanova matchup will take on the winner of the Purdue/North Carolina matchup in the tournament finals on Sunday afternoon.
With Tennessee having such an important weekend coming up in just a few days, the team was hard at work on the court to continue improving their play.
Below are some highlights and video footage from the Tennessee basketball practice on Tuesday.
