PARADISE ISLAND, Bahamas — The Tennessee basketball program heads to the Bahamas to face No. 18 Purdue in the opening game of the 2017 Bad Boy Mowers Battle 4 Atlantis on Wednesday at 12 p.m. ET. The game will be televised live from Imperial Arena on ESPN2 and streamed online via WatchESPN.
Tennessee (2-0) is making its second appearance all-time at the Battle 4 Atlantis, owning a 2-1 record at the event. The Vols placed fifth in 2013 after falling to UTEP in the first round and bouncing back with wins over Xavier and Wake Forest.
At tipoff the Vols will be eight days removed from their last action, a 84-53 victory over High Point in Knoxville last Tuesday. Jordan Bone and Lamonte Turner each scored 16 points, and James Daniel III tallied a career-high 10 assists off the bench. He became the first Vol to record 10 assists in nearly six years – since Trae Golden had 11 versus ULM on Nov. 16, 2011. In the first half, the Vols held the Panthers to just 13 points – the fewest points allowed in an opening half since Dec. 18, 2012 – when Tennessee held Presbyterian to 13 points.
Purdue (4-0) also heads to Atlantis off a win, including a 106-64 romp over Fairfield on Saturday in which it buried a program-record 19 3-pointers. The 18th-ranked Boilermakers boast a scoring average of 102.0 points per game through the first four games of the season.
THE SERIES
• Overall: Purdue leads, 2-1
• In Knoxville: UT leads, 1-0
• In West Lafayette: Purdue leads, 1-0
• Neutral Sites: Purdue leads, 1-0
• Current Streak: Purdue has won two straight
• Last Meeting: Purdue won, 73-72, on Nov. 23, 2009, in St. Thomas, U.S. Virgin Islands
• Rick Barnes vs. Purdue: 1-1
• Rick Barnes vs. Matt Painter: No meetings
A WIN WOULD…
• Give Tennessee its first 3-0 start since the 2010-11 season
• Even UT’s all-time series with Purdue at 2-2, dating to 1980
• Stand as Tennessee’s fourth win under coach Rick Barnes over an opponent ranked in the AP top 25
• Give the Vols a 23-34 all-time record against current members of the Big Ten Conference
TENNESSEE RETURNS TO BATTLE 4 ATLANTIS
• Tennessee is making its second appearance at the Battle 4 Atlantis. The 2017 field includes the Vols, Arizona, NC State, Northern Iowa, Purdue, SMU, Villanova and Western Kentucky. The Vols open against Purdue on Wednesday.
• The Battle 4 Atlantis takes place at the Atlantis Resort on Paradise Island, Bahamas. All games are played on the resort property in Imperial Arena.
• In Atlantis in 2013, Tennessee dropped its opening game to UTEP before bouncing back to defeat Xavier and Wake Forest.
UT’s HISTORY vs. ATLANTIS FIELD
• Tennessee owns a 10-12 (.455) combined record vs. the seven other programs in the 2017 Battle 4 Atlantis field.
Opponent Series
Arizona UT leads, 3-1 UA won, 73-72 (12/13/98)
NC State NCSU leads, 7-3 NCSU won, 83-72 (12/17/14)
Northern Iowa No meetings N/
Purdue PU leads, 2-1 PU won, 73-72 (11/23/09)
SMU No meetings N/A
Villanova VU leads, 2-1 UT won, 78-68 (11/26/11)
Western Ky. UT leads, 2-0 UT won, 88-82 (12/15/07)
ABOUT PURDUE
• Purdue, ranked 18th and 16th in the AP and coaches polls, respectively, is off to a 4-0 start this season.
• Head coach Matt Painter is in his 13th season with the Boilermakers. He led Purdue to a 27-8 (14-4 Big Ten) record last season, as the squad advanced to the Sweet Sixteen.
• Purdue returns a trio of senior All-Big Ten performers. Forward Vincent Edwards earned third-team All-Big Ten honors last season after averaging 12.6 points, 4.9 rebounds and 3.2 assists per game.
• Guard Dakota Mathias had a breakout junior season, starting all 35 games and averaging 9.7 points, 3.9 rebounds and 3.8 assists per game. He also shot 45.3 percent from behind the arc (72-of-159), ranking second in the Big Ten last season. The Big Ten Defensive Team honoree is joined by 7-2 center Isaac Haas, who averaged 12.6 points, 5.0 rebounds and 0.7 blocks per game. He shot 58.7 percent from the field last season.
• The Boilermakers are already in mid-season form heading into the Battle 4 Atlantis, as they represented the United States in the World University Games in August. During the tournament, Purdue went 7-1, falling in the championship game to Lithuania and securing America’s second-best finish in the games since 2005.
PURDUE CONNECTIONS
• Vols newcomer Chris Darrington, a native of Toledo, Ohio, was a juco All-American at Vincennes University in Indiana last season. He was never recruited by Purdue.
• UT true freshman Derrick Walker Jr. played two years with Purdue redshirt freshman Matt Haarms at Sunrise Christian Academy in Bel Aire, Kansas.
THE LAST TIME vs. PURDUE (FROM AP RECAP)
• Purdue coach Matt Painter said he thought the team with the ball last would win the game. Technically, he was right: Kelsey Barlow of the sixth-ranked Boilermakers chased down Wayne Chism’s miss from the top of the key with two seconds left to secure a 73-72 victory over No. 9 Tennessee on Nov. 23, 2009, in the title game of the Paradise Jam.
• Barlow missed two free throws with 17.6 seconds remaining to give the Volunteers an opportunity to set up the possible game-winning shot. UT point guard Bobby Maze, who had 13 points, looked to penetrate. Painter had anticipated as much, and Purdue turned Maze away, forcing a kick-out pass to Chism at the top of the key, beyond the 3-point arc.
• The 6-foot-9 Chism scored 24 points, hitting 8-of-13 shots from the field and going 7-of-7 from the free throw line.
• The Boilermakers led, 42-41, after a tightly contested first half and appeared to take charge just past the midway point of the second half.
• E’Twaun Moore, who scored 22 points and was named the tournament MVP, had a steal and layup that gave Purdue a 59-58 lead with 9:06 remaining. He capped the 8-0 run with a jumper that put Purdue up 64-59 with 6:16 left.
• Robbie Hummel scored 20 points for the Boilermakers, and JaJuan Johnson added 11 despite playing 18 minutes before fouling out.
• Joining Moore on the all-tournament team were Hummel, Chism, Tyler Smith of Tennessee, DePaul’s Will Walker and Northern Iowa’s Kwadzo Ahelegbe.
PREVIEWING VILLANOVA
• Founded in 1842 and located in Villanova, Pennsylvania, Villanova University is a member of the Big East Conference.
• Coach Jay Wright is in his 17th season with the Wildcats and his 24th season as a head coach.
• With hopes of capturing a second-consecutive national championship, Villanova posted a 32-4 record last year and won the Big East Championship to earn the No. 1 overall seed in the NCAA Tournament before falling in the second round to Wisconsin.
• This season, the Wildcats are charged with replacing the production of a senior trio (Josh Hart, Kris Jenkins and Darryl Reynolds) that led the program to its winningest era in school history (129-17).
• Junior guard Jalen Brunson (14.7 ppg, 4.1 apg, 54 FG%) is the team’s leading returning scorer from last season. He is joined by redshirt junior guard/forward Mikal Bridges (9.8 ppg, 4.6 rpg), who is one of the major offensive threats for the Wildcats.
• The Vols and Villanova have met just three times previously, with VU owning a 2-1 edge. In the last matchup between the two schools, Tennessee claimed the series’ only neutral-site clash, taking a 78-68 victory over the 7th-ranked Wildcats in the championship game of the 2011 NIT Season Tip-Off in Madison Square Garden.
• Vols head coach Rick Barnes owns a 33-37 record against current Big East teams and is 9-7 against Villanova, with the majority of those contests coming when Barnes coached at Providence.
PREVIEWING WESTERN KENTUCKY
• Founded in 1906 and located in Bowling Green, Kentucky, Western Kentucky University is a member of Conference USA.
• Head Coach Rick Stansbury is in his second year with the Hilltoppers. The Vols are a familiar foe for Stansbury, who coached at Mississippi State for 14 seasons.
• The Hilltoppers’ lost four of their five starters from last season and only have one returning player who logged minutes.
• Graduate transfer Darius Thompson spent his freshmen year with the Vols in 2013-14. He led the team in steals (36), played in all 37 games and was a contributor in UT’s Sweet Sixteen run under then-head coach Cuonzo Martin (now at Missouri).
• The Vols and Western Kentucky have met just two times previously, with UT owning a 2-0 advantage.
• Vols head coach Rick Barnes owns a .957 career record against Conference USA teams (22-1) and is a perfect 2-0 against the Hilltoppers.
FIRST-HALF DEFENSE STIFLING
• Through their first two games, the Volunteers have held opponents to an average 13.5 points during the first half. Those opponents have averaged 12.0 first-half turnovers while shooting just .234 from the field (11-of-47).
• Tennessee’s average lead at halftime this season is 35.5 points.
UT RIDING FIRST-HALF SCORING RUNS
• Tennessee has put together scoring runs exceeding 25 points in each of its first two games, effectively putting each contest out of reach before halftime.
• In the opener vs. Presbyterian, the Vols went on a 26-0 run to lead 46-14 at the half.
• And last Tuesday against High Point, Tennessee authored a 32-0 run spanning 11 minutes to take a 52-13 lead into the break.
-UT Athletics
