Coming off a 77-62 win over the Wofford Terriers, Tennessee Basketball, ranked No. 6 in both polls, has a much more imposing foe in the March Madness Round of 32. The Vols, who are a 2-seed in the Midwest Region with a 23-7 overall record, will take on the No. 7 seed UCLA Bruins Saturday night in Kentucky with a chance to reach the Sweet 16.
UCLA, led by head coach Mick Cronin, beat the No. 10 seed Utah State Aggies 72-47 in the NCAA Tournament Round of 64 Thursday. Although they are unranked in both polls, they come in with a 23-11 record and playing much better basketball recently than they did earlier in the year.
The Vols have a chance to make history. If they win it, they will reach their third straight Sweet 16, something they have never done. Barnes hasn’t done it since 2002 to 2004 with the Texas Longhorns. Here is all the information you need for this March Madness matchup.
Tennessee Volunteers vs. UCLA Bruins
When: Saturday, March 22 at 9:50 p.m. ET
Where: Rupp Arena; Lexington, Ky.
TV: TBS/TruTV
Live stream: NCAA.com
Radio: Vol Network (Click here for affiliates); UCLA Radio Network (Click here for affiliates)
Listen online: The Varsity Network
This is only the second game in history between the Vols and UCLA. The two faced off in 1977, when Ray Mears and Gene Bartow were head coaches of the programs respectively and Bernard King and Ernie Grunfeld were at UT. UCLA won that game 103-89.
In 2019, after firing Steve Alford, UCLA almost hired Barnes away. However, the Vols sweetened Barnes’ contract and made him one of the five highest paid coaches in the nation to keep him. As a result, they hired Cronin away from the Cincinnati Bengals. In his sixth year with the program, Cronin is in his fourth NCAA Tourney the past five years.
Tyler Bilodeau, a 6’9″ forward, leads UCLA this year in scoring at 13.5 points per game. Eric Dailey Jr., a 6’8″ wing, averages 11.7 points per game. They found another weapon off the bench in their first March Madness game in 7’3″ center Aday Mara, who had 10 points, six boards and five blocks in just 20 minutes. This team has gone nine-deep on the year.
Obviously, depth could be a big issue for the Vols after going to the SEC Tournament title game last Sunday and now playing their second game in three days. They desperately need a break, but they’ll have to show one more level of energy before they can get a few days off.
Whichever team wins this game will take on the winner between the No. 3 seed Kentucky Wildcats and No. 6 seed Illinois Fighting Illini next week. Those two teams face off Sunday evening. UT faced both in the regular season, getting swept by Kentucky but beating Illinois on the road by a last-second shot back in December.
