With one of college basketball’s best guards in Zachay Ziegler and a revamped supporting cast, No. 12 Tennessee will begin working toward its first Final Four appearance in program history when it hosts Gardner-Webb in Knoxville, Tennessee, on Monday night.
It will serve as the season opener for both teams.
Tennessee, which last season reached the Elite Eight of the NCAA Tournament and finished 27-9, got a glimpse of what its new lineup will look like against tough competition when it hosted an exhibition game against 17th-seeded Indiana on Sunday.
However, the Volunteers struggled from the field in what ended up being a 66-62 loss to the Hoosiers, making just 18 of 59 shots (30.5 percent).
“Offensively, it wasn’t very good. We had shots at first, and to be honest with you, they were shots we had to make,” Tennessee coach Rick Barnes said after the exhibition. “But still, if we don’t make shots, our defense keeps us in the game. That (always makes it) more difficult when you don’t make shots, but you’ve got to have something you can count on. Every night.”
Ziegler led the way with 13 points and eight assists. But Barnes said he wasn’t happy with Ziggler getting a contested 3-pointer in the final seconds, instead suggesting a timeout should have been called.
The Volunteers faded down the stretch, with their last field goal coming with 3:50 to play.
Jordan Gainey started the game and finished with 12 points, while Chaz Lanier, who Barnes said came off the bench because he didn’t practice much before the game, scored 10 points.
Gardner-Webb enters the season with optimism after promoting his longtime assistant Jeremy Luther to head coach in late March. Luther, a former guard at Robert Morris and Liberty, inherits a team that finished third in the Big South Conference last season with a 17-16 overall record and an 11-5 mark in league play.
The Runnin’ Bulldogs lost their top two scorers from a season ago, Julian Sommorrow and Caleb Robinson (both of whom averaged 12.7 points per game), but could still be picked to finish sixth in the Big South in the league’s preseason poll.
However, Gardner-Webb will get a boost from two players who chose to return to the program after spending last season elsewhere.
Anthony Selden played for the Runnin’ Bulldogs for three seasons before spending the 2023-24 season at Rice, where he averaged 5.5 points and 2.4 rebounds in 29 games (six starts). Jamaine Mann also returns to Gardner-Webb after stops at Vanderbilt and Georgia State.
Mann came off the bench in all 18 games he played last season for Georgia State. He averaged 5.9 points and 3.1 rebounds.
The Runnin’ Bulldogs’ matchup with Tennessee will be the first meeting in a challenging three-game road trip to open the season that also includes visits to North Carolina Central and Pitt.
“We couldn’t be more excited for the season. I really enjoyed coaching this team over the summer and fall,” Luther said. “I love our chemistry and the passion the kids show every day. It seems like only yesterday that I was hired, and now the season has already arrived.”
– Media at the field level