BY THE NUMBERS
13.5
» Senior point guard Antonio Barton has scored 54 points in Tennessee’s last four games, giving him an average of 13.5 ppg during that span.
LAST TIME VS AUBURN...
¢ Tennessee recorded an 82-75 victory at Auburn March 6, 2013. ¢ It was UT’s seventh win in eight games. ¢ SEC Player of the Year Candidate Jordan McRae overcame a slow start to finish with 21 points, including 15 in the second half. ¢ Jarnell Stokes posted his 13th double-double of the season (including 10 in his last 14 games) with 11 points and 12 rebounds. Stokes struggled from the free-throw line, making just 1-of-10. But, the remainder of the Vols were nearly perfect, making 26-of-28 from the line (93 percent). ¢ The game was separated by one possession for a span of more than eight minutes, with the lead changing hands eight times midway through the second half. ¢ UT took a six-point lead on a Kenny Hall slam with six minutes left. Hall then added two more free throws for a 70-62 UT advantage. ¢ A 3-pointer by McRae was the knockout punch, as Tennessee took the game’s first double-figure lead with 4:49 left, 73-62. ¢ Tennessee continued to make its free throws
57
» That’s how many consecutive games junior forward Jarnell Stokes has started, dating to February of 2012. It’s the longest such streak on the team.
late in the game, as the run evolved into an 18-4 stretch. ¢ Tennessee trailed 35-32 at halftime as the Vols shot just 37.9 percent over the first 20 minutes. ¢ Auburn was led by senior Frankie Sullivan, who had a game-high 24 points on Senior Night. Josh Wallace added 14 for the Tigers, who shot 50.9 percent from the floor.
was played in December. The Vols were 4-0 vs. Auburn in 1979 (Feb. 2 & 7, March 2, Dec. 12). ¢ Tony White broke Tennessee’s all-time singlegame scoring record with 51 points against the Tigers in Stokely Athletics Center on Valentine’s Day 1987. UT won 103-84.
MEMORABLE VOL PERFORMANCES AGAINST THE TIGERS
¢ Wednesday’s game matches the highest and fourth-highest-scoring coaching staffs in America. ¢ Tennessee’s four full-time coaches scored 5,381 Division I points during their playing days. No other staff in the country scored more than that. ¢ Auburn’s coaches rank fourth among all Division I staffs with 4,373 college points to their credit. ¢ The two staffs combine to boast five 1,000-point scorers (UT assistant Kent Williams scored more than 2,000 points in college). ¢ See detailed chart on the next page.
¢ Carl Widseth made a then-school-record 17 free throws on The Plains against the Tigers en route to another school record, 47 points, on Feb. 25, 1956, in a 91-87 Tennessee triumph. ¢ Dalen Showalter recorded a double-double with 27 points and 13 rebounds as the unranked Vols upset No. 2 Auburn 56-55 at UT’s Armory Fieldhouse on Feb. 23, 1959. ¢ Playing a team four times in a calendar year is rare. In 1979, UT played a home-and-home series with Auburn. They met again in the 1979 SEC Tournament. The first game of the 1979-80 series
NATIONAL POLLS ASSOCIATED PRESS POLL Updated: Jan. 13 Rank School 1 Arizona 2 Syracuse 3 Wisconsin 4 Michigan State 5 Wichita State 6 Villanova 7 Florida 8 Iowa State 9 Oklahoma State 10 San Diego State 11 Ohio State 12 Baylor 13 Kentucky 14 Iowa 15 Kansas 16 UMass 17 Memphis 18 Louisville 19 Cincinnati 20 Creighton 21 Colorado 22 Pittsburgh 23 Duke 24 Saint Louis 25 UCLA 25 Oklahoma
USA TODAY COACHES’ POLL
Record 17-0 16-0 16-0 15-1 17-0 15-1 13-2 14-1 14-2 14-1 15-2 13-2 12-3 14-3 11-4 14-1 12-3 14-3 15-2 14-2 14-3 15-1 12-4 15-2 13-3 13-3
Pts. Previous 1621 (61) 1 1560 (4) 2 1482 4 1442 5 1300 6 1289 8 1205 10 1048 9 1046 11 1020 13 979 3 952 7 912 14 831 20 686 18 579 19 536 24 525 12 405 NR 329 NR 328 15 299 NR 193 16 148 NR 103 NR 103 NR
Receiving Votes: Missouri (13-2) 42; Oregon (13-3) 39; Connecticut (13-3) 35; Kansas State (12-4) 25; Gonzaga (14-3) 17; Michigan (11-4) 11; California (12-4) 10; Virginia (12-4) 6; Louisiana Tech (14-3) 5; Xavier (13-4) 3; New Mexico (12-3) 3; Illinois (13-4) 3; Harvard (14-2) 3; George Washington (13-3) 2
5
» That’s how many wins Cuonzo Martin has as UT’s coach over coaches with a Division I national championship on their résumé (Donovan 3x, Calhoun, Calipari).
Updated: Jan. 13 Rank School 1 Arizona (30) 2 Syracuse (1) 3 Wisconsin 4 Michigan State (1) 5 Wichita State 6 Villanova 7 Florida 8 Oklahoma State 9 Ohio State 10 Iowa State 11 San Diego State 12 Kentucky 13 Baylor 14 Louisville 15 UMass 16 Iowa 17 Memphis 18 Kansas 19 Creighton 20 Duke 21 Pittsburgh 22 Colorado 23 Cincinnati 24 Gonzaga 25 UCLA
Record 17-0 16-0 16-0 15-1 17-0 15-1 13-2 14-2 15-2 14-1 14-1 12-3 13-2 14-3 14-1 14-3 12-3 11-4 14-2 12-4 15-1 14-3 15-2 14-3 13-3
Pts. 798 766 724 718 666 598 573 517 516 495 481 424 413 393 330 297 274 272 216 163 144 103 87 82 74
Previous 1 2 4 4 6 10 11 12 3 7 15 16 9 8 19 23 22 20 23 13 NR 17 NR 18 25
Receiving Votes: Saint Louis (15-2) 68; Oregon (13-3) 51; Missouri (13-2) 43; Oklahoma (13-3) 39; Kansas State (124) 15; California (12-4) 9; Michigan (11-4) 9; New Mexico (12-3) 9; Connecticut (13-3) 8; George Washington (133) 6; Harvard (14-2) 6; Southern Miss (14-3) 5; Virginia (12-4) 4; Virginia Commonwealth (13-3) 2; Xavier (13-4) 2
MANY ONCE-PROLIFIC SCORERS WEARING SUITS ON THE BENCH
HUBBS SIDELINED BY SHOULDER
¢ Tennessee basketball coach Cuonzo Martin announced Jan. 10 that freshman guard Robert Hubbs III will have season-ending surgery on his left shoulder this week. ¢ A native of Newbern, Tenn., Hubbs was hampered all season by the injury, which dates to last winter when he was a senior in high school. He wore a soft brace during all of UT’s games and practices this season. ¢ Hubbs appeared in 12 contests for the Vols, averaging 5.0 points and 1.5 rebounds in 18.3 minutes off the bench.
VOLS SECOND IN SEC WINS OVER LAST SIX SEASONS ¢ In league play, Tennessee is the SEC’s secondwinningest basketball program over the last six years, dating to the 2007-08 season. ¢ Tennessee’s 65 SEC regular-season wins during that span are second only to Kentucky (74). ¢ The next winningest teams are Florida (64), Vanderbilt (57), Alabama (52) and Miss. State (52).
CLAMPING DOWN ON DEFENSE
¢ Tennessee’s defense has been especially stingy during the last five games, as the Vols are allowing just 55.4 points per game during that span. ¢ Over those five games, UT’s opponents are shooting .355 from the field and .311 from 3-point range.
McRAE FACILITATING
¢ Jordan McRae has 21 assists in UT’s last five games. ¢ His 4.5 assists per game in SEC play rank tied for third in the league.
TRACKING TENNESSEE IN THE POLLS
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