No. 11 Tennessee men’s basketball (2-0) will welcome Tennessee State (2-1) to Food City Center. The Volunteers and Tigers have met just seven times in history, with Tennessee winning all meetings. The last meeting came on Nov. 20, 2025, when the Volunteers won 89-60, led by Ja’Kobi Gillespie’s 17 points.
TSU is led by head coach Nolan Smith, who led his program to the OVC regular-season and tournament titles and an NCAA Tournament appearance in the 2025-26 season. Senior forward Aaron Bradshaw leads the Tigers with 14.3 ppg, 6.7 rpg and 3.0 bpg on the year.
Tennessee is coming off a 70-47 win over Radford. Terrence Hill Jr. finished with a game-high 18 points on 6-of-9 shooting. DeWayne Brown II didn’t score much, but added another big night on the boards with 12 rebounds.
The defense was solid with nine blocks and 11 steals, but the offense wasn’t, especially on the perimeter. The Vols shot 23.5% from beyond the arc. I asked sixth-year guard Tyler Lundblade about it at Thursday’s availability…