Tennessee
Game time set for Tennessee basketball vs. UCLA in 2025 NCAA Tournament second round
LEXINGTON, Ky. − Tennessee basketball and UCLA are playing for a spot in the Sweet 16.
The No. 2 seed Vols (27-8) face the No. 10 seed Bruins (23-10) at 9:40 p.m. ET on Saturday on TNT/TruTV at Rupp Arena.
Tennessee advanced with a 77-62 win against No. 15 Wofford on Thursday then the Bruins walloped No. 10 Utah State 72-47. UT is playing for its third straight trip to the Sweet 16 under coach Rick Barnes, including last season’s Elite Eight berth. It also went to the Sweet 16 in 2019.
How Tennessee basketball advanced in the NCAA Tournament
Chaz Lanier starred in his first NCAA Tournament game. He scored 29 points, which is the third-most in an NCAA Tournament game UT history. He hit six 3-pointers, which matched Dalton Knecht, Santiago Vescovi and Chris Lofton for the most in an NCAA Tournament game by a Vol.
Zakai Zeigler had 12 points and 12 assists. He broke Johnny Darden’s career assists record with his second assist against Wofford.
Jahmai Mashack had nine points and seven rebounds.
How UCLA advanced in the NCAA Tournament to face Tennessee
The Bruins easily handed Utah State in the nightcap Thursday. Skyy Clark and Eric Dailey Jr. had 14 points each. Kobe Johnson had eight points and eight rebounds.
UCLA limited the Aggies to 4-for-31 3-point shooting, while hitting 10-for-24.
Mike Wilson covers University of Tennessee athletics. Email him at michael.wilson@knoxnews.com and follow him on X @ByMikeWilson or Bluesky @bymikewilson.bsky.social. If you enjoy Mike’s coverage, consider a digital subscription that will allow you access to all of it.
The Tennessee Volunteers are set to play the Kentucky Wildcats in the sweet sixteen.
After Tennessee defeated UCLA on Saturday and Kentucky defeated Illinois on Sunday, the two SEC programs will face off against one another in the sweet sixteen round.
The two teams faced off against one another twice during the regular season. The first go around, Kentucky won on the road 78-73. A couple of weeks later, the Wildcats defeated the Volunteers again, this time at home, by a final score of 75-64. Needless to say, not the best feeling for Tennessee going into this matchup, but the Volunteers have certainly proven they are one of the best teams in the country.
Kentucky defeated both Troy and Illinois en route to playing Tennessee. The Volunteers went up against Wofford and UCLA. This is the first time in matchup history that both programs will have played in the NCAA tournament.
A date and time has not yet been announced for the matchup.
As the sweet sixteen round approaches, here are the most updated national title odds.
All odds presented by FanDuel.
– Duke +260
– Florida +400
– Auburn +490
– Houston +550
– Tennessee +1600
– Texas Tech +2000
– Alabama +2000
– Iowa State +2700
– Michigan State +3000
The Vols will face the winner of Illinois and Kentucky in the Sweet 16. They have already played both opponents on the year. They are (1-0) vs Illinois with a 2-point win and they went winless against Kentcuy in their two matchups this season. Though with the way Chaz Lanier is scoring at the moment, they are capable of beating anyone.
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OTHER TENNESSEE NEWS
The Tennessee Volunteers have already secured their trip to the Sweet 16 with their win over UCLA on Saturday night. We take a look at who they might play next round.
The Tennessee Vols are headed to the Sweet 16 after their nine-point win over the UCLA Bruins in the round of 32. The Vols are set to make their third straight Sweet 16 and with experienced guard play from Zakai Zeigler and elite scoring prowess from Chaz Lanier, on top of an elite team defensive effort, the Vols are looking strong entering the next round.
Now, who will they play? Well, let’s take a look at it.
The No. 3 seeded Kentucky Wildcats are set to take on the No. 6 seeded Illinois Fighting Illini on Sunday evening. According to FanDuel, Illinois is actually a 1.5 point favorite in the contest despite being the lower-seeded team. Either way, it’s projected to be a tightly contest basketball game, per the FanDuel odds.
The Vols have played both Illinois and Kentucky this season. They beat Illinois 66-64 back in December. And they were (0-2) against the Wildcats in conference play this season.
The Vols currently have the fifth-best odds to win the NCAA Championship per FanDuel. The current favorites are Duke, Florida, Auburn, Houston, and then Tennessee. The good news for Tennessee, the will avoid everyone but Houston until the Elite 11.
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OTHER TENNESSEE NEWS
Chaz Lanier is on the verge of history ahead of Tennessee vs UCLA in March Madness
Another Tennessee star is chasing history on Saturday night against the UCLA Bruins. Chaz Lanier is playing in front of Chris Lofton in hopes of breaking the single-season record of threes made in a Vols uniform. Lanier is in his first year with the Vols after transferring in this off-season.
Lofton has made enough history in Knoxville as he has his number retired and Tennessee will never have a No. 5 again.
Lanier is only 3 three-pointers away from breaking the record. Lanier is likely to break the record tonight, but if he doesn’t and the Vols fall short so will his hopes of breaking the record as he is out of eligibility.
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