KNOXVILLE, Tenn. – The Tennessee men’s basketball team (14-6, 4-3) is set to continue the 2025-26 slate Saturday, as it hosts the Auburn Tigers (14-7, 5-3) at Food City Center. Tip-off is set for 8:30 p.m. ET.
The contest will serve as the program’s annual “Checker” Food City game. Fans can visit UTsports.com/checker to see the color designation for their section. In addition, all students in attendance will receive an orange or white shirt based off their section, courtesy of Uber Eats.
Fans can watch Wednesday’s game on ESPN and stream on the ESPN App. Dave Neal (play-by-play) and Dane Bradshaw (color) will have the call.
Fans state-wide can tune in to their local Vol Network radio affiliate to hear Voice of the Vols Mike Keith and analyst Chris Lofton depict the action.
THE MATCHUP
• In the most recent contest, the fourth-seeded Volunteers beat top-seeded Auburn, 70-65, in the 2025 SEC Tournament semifinals on 3/15/25 behind 20 points from Zakai Zeigler.
• The two series meetings last year, both of which were AP top-eight clashes, were decided by a total of seven points. UT led for 33:25 and the Tigers did so for 35:03.
• Tennessee is 4-2 in its last six meetings—both setbacks were on the road—with the Tigers, after dropping six in a row before that.
• This contest snaps a 12-game series streak (1/2/18 to 3/15/25) across eight seasons with at least one team ranked.
• Auburn head coach Steven Pearl is a Tennessee alumnus. He played for his father, Bruce Pearl, on Rocky Top from 2007-11. The Vols went 99-42 in that four-year span.
• After going 32-6 (15-3), winning the SEC regular season title and making the Final Four, Auburn was picked sixth in the SEC.
• Senior forward Keyshawn Hall paces the Tigers with 20.9 ppg and 7.4 rpg.
NEWS & NOTES
• Auburn assistant coach Ira Bowman played for Rick Barnes at Providence for two years (1991- 93), aiding the team to 34 wins.
• Tennessee radio analyst Chris Lofton played with ESPN analyst Dane Bradshaw at UT from 2004- 07, as well as with Auburn head coach Steven Pearl in 2007-08.
• Auburn’s Joah Shay is the son of Jason Shay, who was an assistant coach at Tennessee from 2005-11.
• After playing 121 regulation contests in a row from 11/25/22 to 1/10/26, two of the Volunteers’ last four games have gone to overtime and UT won both.
• Tennessee’s 26 offensive boards at Georgia tied for the fifth-most in program history, marked its highest tally since 11/28/13 versus UTEP and set a new UT record in SEC competition.
• Ja’Kobi Gillespie has scored over 20 points in each of the last three games (23.0 ppg). He is the first Vol to log three straight 20-point outings since Chaz Lanier from 12/23/24 to 1/3/25 and the first to do it in SEC play since Dalton Knecht from 2/7/24 to 2/14/24.
• Bishop Boswell has recorded a double-double in two of the last four games after never doing so in his first 41 outings as a Volunteer.
• Rick Barnes’ 850 wins are second among active DI coaches and No. 10 all-time (min. 10 years in DI).
• This will be Rick Barnes’ 1,280th game as a head coach, passing Jerry Slocum for sole possession of eighth place all-time (min. 10 years in DI).
• In his UT tenure, Rick Barnes has more victories (116) in SEC play than he does total losses (115) in all games.
• Tennessee, Alabama and Houston are the only schools to make the last three Sweet 16s. Tennessee, Alabama and Duke are the only three in the last two Elite Eights.
• UT finished a program-best fifth in the AP Poll, Coaches Poll and KenPom in 2023-24 and 2024-25.
• The Volunteers’ 215 wins the last nine years (2017-26) rank co-ninth in DI, tying Arizona (215). Only Houston (261), Gonzaga (260), Duke (239), Kansas (227), Purdue (223), Saint Mary’s (219), Auburn (216) and Liberty (216) own more.
NUMBER 850
• An 86-85 overtime win at Georgia (1/28/26) gave Rick Barnes the 850th victory of his 39-year career. He is the 10th DI coach all-time (min. 10 years in DI) with 850-plus wins.
• Barnes, John Calipari and Adolph Rupp are the only three SEC coaches ever to amass 850 career wins.
• Just 17 coaches all-time, at any level, have hit 850 victories (min. five years in NCAA). Barnes, John Calipari (Arkansas) and Dave Holmquist (Division II Biola) are the only three active members of that elite group.
BEASTS ON THE BOARDS
• Tennessee leads the nation, per KenPom, with a 44.7 offensive rebounding percentage. That is 1.2 percent above second-ranked Florida (43.5) and 4.2 ahead of third-place Virginia (40.5).
• The Volunteers have logged double-digit offensive rebounds 19 of 20 games, with 13-plus in 15, 15-plus in 12, 20-plus in five and 23-plus in four. Their top tally is 26.
• UT is fourth in Division I in rebounding margin (12.7), sixth in total rebounds per game (43.00) and third in offensive rebounds per game (15.65).
• The Vols have grabbed at least 35 total boards in 17 of 20 contests, with 42-plus in 11, 47-plus in eight and 50-plus in six. Their highest mark is 60.
• Jaylen Carey (four times), J.P. Estrella (three), Felix Okpara (three), Bishop Boswell (two), Nate Ament (one) and DeWayne Brown II (one) have all amassed 10 total rebounds in a game this season.
• According to KenPom, Jaylen Carey ranks third in the country with his 19.3 offensive rebounding percentage.
• In his second start, versus Gardner-Webb (12/21/25), DeWayne Brown II had 14 rebounds. He tied Grant Williams (3/1/17), Jarnell Stokes (3/3/12) and Brian Williams (12/15/07) for the most by a UT freshman in the last 20 seasons (2006-26). He also tied the fifth-highest total by any Vol in the Rick Barnes era.
• The Volunteers pulled down 60 rebounds in the double-overtime victory against Texas A&M (1/13/26) and conceded just 35 (plus-25). It marked their first time with 55-plus rebounds since grabbing 58 on 11/18/08 versus UT Martin. UT had 24 offensive boards and allowed only 10 (plus-14). Jaylen Carey (10p, 9r) was one rebound away from giving Tennessee three players with double-digit boards and double-doubles, as Bishop Boswell (13p, 11r) and Felix Okpara (10p, 12r) both hit that mark.
• In the overtime win at Georgia (1/28/26), Tennessee grabbed 52 rebounds and allowed only 27 (plus25). It also pulled down an astounding 26 offensive boards while giving up just seven (plus-19). Two Vols, J.P. Estrella and Felix Okpara, had as many offensive boards individually as the Bulldogs did as a team. Bishop Boswell (13p, 10r) tallied a doubledouble, while Estrella (17p, 9r) and Okpara (6p, 11r) nearly did so.
FRESHMAN PHENOM’S STELLAR START…
• Nate Ament claimed SEC Freshman of the Week honors on 11/10/25, the first such accolade of the year in the league. The last Volunteer to win the award was Julian Phillips on 1/23/23.
• Ament, to begin his career against Mercer (11/3/25) became the fifth Tennessee freshman with 18 points in a season opener in the last 20 years (2006-26).
• Next, Ament had 23 points, eight rebounds, five assists and two steals versus Northern Kentucky (11/8/25). He became the sixth SEC freshman in the last 20 seasons (2006-26) to reach that mark, joining Reed Sheppard (12/2/23), Brandon Miller (3/12/23), VFL Kennedy Chandler (2/22/22), Ben Simmons (12/2/15) and James Young (1/8/14). Only two other Vols, Chandler and Josiah-Jordan James (3/1/22), have hit those numbers across that two-decade span.
• In the only game of his second week, Nate Ament had 19 points, nine rebounds, five assist, two steals and one block versus North Florida (11/12/25). He became the fifth SEC freshman—seventh instance— in the last 20 years (2006-26) to register that line. Ament follows Ben Simmons (thrice in 2015-16), James Young (1/8/14), Archie Goodwin (11/23/12) and John Wall (3/27/10). Only one other Vol, Igor Miličić Jr. (2/5/25) has notched that line in those 20 seasons.
• That lone performance helped Ament repeat as SEC Freshman of the Week on 11/17/25. He became the sixth Vol with two such honors in a season, including the first since Zakai Zeigler in 2021-22 and the first one ever to garner them in back-to-back weeks.
• To open his third week, Ament had 19 points and 10 rebounds for his first double-double, adding three steals, against Rice (11/17/25). He became the fifth SEC freshman—six instance—in the past 15 years (2011-26) with that line, following Brandon Miller (3/12/23); Jabari Smith (11/12/21); Aaron Nesmith (11/27/18); and Ben Simmons (twice in 2015-16). The last Vol to do it was over 19 years ago when Dane Bradshaw (1/18/06) achieved it.
• Ament then had 15 points, six boards, four assists and four steals against Tennessee State (11/20/25). He is the fifth SEC freshman—third in regulation— with that line in the last 10 years (2016-26), alongside Collin Murray-Boyles (3/9/24 in OT), Anthony Edwards (2/26/20 in OT), Keyontae Johnson (3/15/19) and Shai Gilgeous-Alexander (3/15/18).
• In his first three contests versus Power Five foes, Ament averaged 16.3 points, 6.3 rebounds, 2.7 assists 1.3 steals per game at the Players Era Men’s Championship. He scored 20 against both Rutgers (11/24/25) and Kansas (11/26/25), with nine in the middle in a win over #3/2 Houston (11/25/25). For that performance, he again won SEC Freshman of the Week.
…AND GETTING GOING AGAIN
• After averaging 11.1 points per game in a seven-contest span (12/2/25 to 1/6/26) that followed his aforementioned hot start, Nate Ament exploded once again.
• Ament scored 17-plus points in each of the next five games. He tied his then-career high with 23 points (19 in the final 20 minutes) in a 1/13/26 double-overtime win against Texas A&M and then broke that with 29 points (18 in the second half) in a victory at #17 Alabama. • Ament averaged 21.0 points per game in that five-outing span, shooting 45.8 percent overall, 38.9 percent from deep and 80.0 percent at the line.
• For his performance against the Crimson Tide, Ament won SEC Player of the Week (1/26/26). He became the fourth Tennessee freshman every to do so, following Jarnell Stokes (3/5/12), Tony Harris (2/9/98) and Allan Houston (2/11/90).
• Alongside his 29 points in Tuscaloosa, Ala., Ament tallied seven rebounds and three assists. He became the sixth SEC freshman in the last 20 years (2006- 26) with that line, joining Tre Johnson (2/15/25), Anthony Edwards (2/26/20 in OT), Shai GilgeousAlexander (3/11/18), Ben Simmons (1/2/16 and 12/2/15) and Terrence Jones (11/22/10).
• In addition, Ament became the first freshman in any league with 29 points, seven rebounds and three assists on the road against an AP top-25 team since Arizona’s Chase Budinger on 2/10/07 at Oregon.
• The only Tennessee freshmen in the last 20 seasons (2006-26) to score 29-plus points in a game are Nate Ament, Jaden Springer (2/10/21) and Grant Williams (2/11/17 and 12/15/16).
