10 SEC Championships » 25 All-Americans » 43 NBA DRAFT Picks » NATION’S HIGHEST-SCORING COACHING STAFF
TENNESSEE (20-12) vs. 7 MERCER (23-11)
2
MARCH 20 » THOMPSON-BOLING ARENA » KNOXVILLE, TENN.
GAME 33 - NIT
THE MATCHUP TENNESSEE
20-12, 11-7 SEC NR / NR Cuonzo Martin 39-27 (2nd yr) 100-68 (5th yr) UTsports.com
vs
ITEMS OF NOTE
MERCER
Record 23-11, 13-5 A-Sun Ranking NR / NR Head Coach Bob Hoffman Record at School 98-72 (5th yr) Career Record 498-242 (22nd yr) Website MercerBears.com
INSIDE THE SERIES Overall: Mercer leads, 3-1 In Knoxville: Series tied, 1-1 In Macon: Mercer leads, 2-0 Neutral Sites: No meetings Current Streak: Tennessee has won one Last Meeting: Tennessee won 67-45 in Knoxville (12/28/93) Martin vs. Hoffman: No meetings
A TENNESSEE WIN WOULD... Set the stage for a second-round game at either BYU or Washington this weekend Give the Vols victories in 10 of their last 12 games Give the Vols a two-game win streak in their all-time series vs. Mercer Improve UT’s home record to 14-3 this season Improve UT’s all-time NIT record to 13-13
¢ Tennessee won nine of its last 11 games and owns a +6.9 scoring margin and a +5.9 rebounding margin during that span. ¢ For the second straight year, UT won eight of its final nine regular-season games. Only three other Tennessee teams in the modern era won eight of nine to finish the regular season (1967, 2008 and 2012). ¢ Located in Macon, Ga., Mercer has an enrollment of 8,200 and competes in the Atlantic Sun Conference. This year, the Bears captured their first outright regular-season A-Sun Championship with a 13-5 league record. ¢ Veteran head coach Bob Hoffman, who is in his fifth season at Mercer, was named the 2013 Atlantic Sun Coach of the Year. ¢ Bears guards Langston Hall and Travis Smith both earned second-team All-Atlantic Sun honors this season. ¢ Mercer won at Florida State and Alabama this year and is allowing just 58.2 points per game. ¢ The winner of Wednesday’s game will travel west to face the winner of Tuesday’s clash between BYU and Washington. ¢ Jarnell Stokes is one of only four players from the “major” conferences (and the only player from the SEC) who averaged a double-double in league games this season. See Page 4. ¢ The Vols are 12-0 this season when point guard Trae Golden scores at least 12 points. ¢ Tennessee finished sixth nationally in average home attendance (17,395). The Vols now have a streak of eight seasons of top-six attendance.
PROBABLE STARTERS (2) Tennessee G 11 Trae Golden G 52 Jordan McRae G 1 Josh Richardson G 4 Armani Moore F 5 Jarnell Stokes
Ht. Wt. Yr. Hometown PPG RPG OTHER 6-2 205 Jr. Powder Springs, Ga. 11.9 2.9 4.0 apg 6-5 178 Jr. Midway, Ga. 16.0 4.1 .364 3FG% 6-6 188 So. Edmond, Okla. 7.9 4.4 .473 FG% 6-5 203 Fr. Kennesaw, Ga. 2.3 2.6 0.6 bpg 6-8 270 So. Memphis, Tenn. 12.3 9.5 .531 FG%
(7) Mercer G 21 Langston Hall G 2 Travis Smith G 5 Bud Thomas F 20 Jakob Gollon C 52 Daniel Coursey
Ht. Wt. 6-4 180 6-3 185 6-6 200 6-6 200 6-10 220
Yr. Hometown PPG RPG OTHER Jr. Atlanta, Ga. 11.0 3.2 4.9 apg Sr. Johns Island, S.C. 13.5 2.8 .421 3FG% Jr. Highlands Ranch, Colo. 7.8 4.6 2.7 apg Jr. Stevens Point, Wis. 8.5 5.1 1.2 spg Jr. Savannah, Ga. 7.1 3.8 1.3 bpg
THE RECORD
2012-13 » SCHEDULE & RECORD Overall Record:
20-12
SEC 11-7 Non-conference 8-4 Home 13-3 Away 4-7 NEUTRAL 3-2
THE SCHEDULE DATE OPPONENT (TV) TIME/RESULT N9 Kennesaw State (FSS) W 76-67 W 75-68 N15 1-UNC Asheville (ESPNU)^ L 62-45 N16 1-Oklahoma State (ESPNU)^ N18 1-UMass (ESPNU)^ W 83-69 N26 Oakland (FSS) W 77-50 N30 2-at No. 20 Georgetown (ESPN)^ L 37-36 L 46-38 D5 at Virginia (ESPN3)^ D13 No. 23 Wichita State (FSS) W 69-60 D18 Presbyterian (SS) W 78-62 D21 Western Carolina (FSS) W 66-52 D29 Xavier (ESPNU)^ W 51-47 L 85-80 J4 Memphis (ESPN2)^ L 92-74 J9 Ole Miss* (SEC Network) L 68-65 J12 at Alabama* (ESPN2)^ L 75-65 J15 at Kentucky* (ESPN)^ J19 Mississippi State* (SEC Network) W 72-57 J24 at No. 23 Ole Miss* (ESPN2)^ L 62-56 J26 Alabama* (ESPN2)^ W 54-53 J29 Vanderbilt* (ESPNU)^ W 58-57 L 73-60 F2 at Arkansas* (ESPN)^ L 68-62 F6 Georgia* (SEC Network)^ F10 at South Carolina* (FSS) W 66-61 F13 at Vanderbilt* (SEC Network)^ W 58-46 F16 No. 25 Kentucky* (CBS) W 88-58 F19 LSU* (ESPNU)^ W 82-72 F23 at Texas A&M* (SEC Network)^ 4OT W 93-85 F26 No. 8 Florida* (ESPN)^ W 64-58 L 78-68 M2 at Georgia* (SEC Network)^ M6 at Auburn* (CSS) W 82-75 M9 Missouri* (ESPN)^ W 64-62 M14 3-vs. Mississippi State (SEC Network)^ W 69-53 M15 3-vs. Alabama (ESPNU)^ L 58-48 8:03 p.m. M20 4-Mercer (ESPNU)^ Schedule Key 1-Puerto Rico Tip-Off (Coliseo Ruben Rodriguez in Bayamón, Puerto Rico); 2-SEC/Big East Challenge (Verizon Center in Washington, D.C.); 3-SEC Tournament (Bridgestone Arena in Nashville, Tenn.) 4-NIT; *Southeastern Conference Game; CSS-Comcast Sports Southeast; FSS-FOX Sports South; SS-SportSouth; ^-Available through the WatchESPN app on smartphones and tablets All Times Eastern; Opponent Rankings are AP
EXPERIENCE THE ACTION TELEVISION
ESPNU John Saunders (PxP) Bob Knight (analyst) Todd Kulis (producer)
RADIO
Vol Network Bob Kesling (PxP) Bert Bertelkamp (analyst)
SATELLITE RADIO Sirius None XM None
ONLINE UTsports.com Free Vol Network audio stream Free TV stream
2012-13 TENNESSEE BASKETBALL » UTSPORTS.COM » @VOL_HOOPS