Tennessee basketball exhibition preview vs. Lenoir-Rhyne: Live stream, game time, TV and radio info

While Tennessee football has an open week, Tennessee basketball takes the court for the first time this year to provide a bit of entertainment for fans on Rocky Top. Rick Barnes’ seventh UT team will give fans its first look against his alma mater.

The Lenoir-Rhyne Bears, who Barnes played for while a student at the college from 1974 to 1977, will make the three-hour trip across I-40 from Western North Carolina to East Tennessee Saturday afternoon to take on the Vols. This will be an exhibition matchup.

Given how COVID shortened the season last year, this is the first exhibition game for the Vols since the start of the 2019-2020 season. Here is all the information you need for Tennessee basketball’s first outing on the court this year.

Lenoir-Rhyne Bears at Tennessee Volunteers

When: Saturday, Oct. 30 at 3 p.m. ET

Where: Thompson-Boling Arena; Knoxville, Tenn.

TV: SEC Network+

Live stream: WatchESPN

Radio: Vol Network

Listen online: UTSports

Based in Hickory, N.C., which is where Barnes grew up, Lenoir-Rhyne is a Division II program getting set for its sixth year under head coach Everick Sullivan. Last year, they went 9-7 and 8-6 in the South Atlantic Conference.

However, back in 2018-2019, Sullivan led this program to its the NCAA Tournament and its first SAC Championship game since 2005. That was also the last time they faced the Vols in an exhibition. Sullivan hasn’t had a losing season in four years. This year, center Cooper Fowler is the program’s only returning starter, as the Bears lost their two leading scorers to transfer.

Coming off a first-round NCAA Tournament exit and an 18-9 season despite extremely high expectations at the start of last year, the Vols enter this year looking to rebound with cautious optimism. They are doing it with another top five recruiting class.

UT lost two five-star freshmen from last year’s team, Jaden Springer and Keon Johnson, and senior forward Yves Pons, all to the NBA. Meanwhile, they lost four players to the transfer portal: Corey Walker Jr., E.J. Anosike, Davonte Gaines and Drew Pember.

On the other hand, the Vols return John Fulkerson for a sixth year of eligibility. They also have former five-star Josiah-Jordan James back for his junior year along with returning contributors Victor Bailey Jr. and Santiago Vescovi. Uros Plavsic and Olivier Nkamhoua gives them six returning scholarship players, and they add transfer wing Justin Powell.

Finally, the Vols add seven players in their top five recruiting class, including unanimous five-star Kennedy Chandler, four-to-five-stars depending on the service in Brandon Huntley-Hatfield and Jonas Aidoo, unanimous four-stat Jahmai Mashack and unanimous three-stars Quentin Diboundje, Handje Tamba and Zakai Zeigler.

Simply put, Tennessee basketball has a great mix of returning talent and new faces, which is why they enter the year ranked No. 18 in the AP Poll and No. 17 in the Coaches Poll. Most of it will be put on display Saturday. Fulkerson and Aidoo, however, two of the post players, will miss the game due to needing time to heal from a fractured thumb and an illness respectively.