LEXINGTON, Ky. (WTVF) — Rupp Arena is normally enemy territory for Tennessee, but after being awarded a No. 2 seed in the NCAA Tournament and the short trip to Lexington, for this weekend’s first and second-round games the Vols are hoping to turn one of their biggest rivals home floors into a homecourt advantage.
Tennessee fans are known for how they travel and Big Orange faithful should be able to get plenty of tickets for the opener against No. 15 seed Wofford inside college basketball’s largest arena. The blue seats should be covered up by fans in orange just like the Kentucky logos on the floor have been replaced by March Madness marks.
“It's a little different playing at Kentucky without playing against them," Tennessee point guard Zakai Zeigler said. "But I feel like our fanbase is going to be amazing. You know Vol Nation - we got the best fanbase in the country. We're not too far from home and I know they're going to show it."
Head Coach Rick Barnes has downplayed any advantage of having played at Rupp before, but his teams have won three of their last six trips to the Bluegrass State.
Tennessee lost 75-64 to Kentucky here back in February, but the Vols are choosing to think only positive thoughts ahead of Thursday.
“This is actually the arena where I got my career high, so I love this arena," Tennessee forward Jahmai Mashack said. "That's the mindset I'm going to come with. I'm going to make sure everybody else has the same mindset. We're going to love this arena. We're going to use the experience we have playing here against a team that hasn't."
Most importantly, the Vols are focused on doing the things that helped them win 27 games this season and earn the no. 2 seed in the Midwest region. After losing to Florida in the SEC Tournament Final the Vols have regrouped and are ready to get to work on their ultimate goal of reaching a Final Four and competing for a national championship.
"We want to be the best team ever in Tennessee history," Zeigler said. So you know going out to a Final Four, going out to win a national championship, that would just be the icing on the cake."
The Vols are looking to set the tone for the tournament by getting back to the basics defensively. They gave up 86 points and were outrebounded by 14 against Florida.
Tennessee needs to be better on both counts against a Wofford team that caught fire in the SoCon Tournament. After finishing sixth in the regular season the Terriers exploded to knock down 37 threes and held a 19-rebound advantage on the glass while winning three games in three days to earn the automatic bid.
“We understand that if we do what we need to do and we play how we're supposed to play then we can handle just about anybody in the country," Tennessee forward Cade Phillips said. "And so to understand what Wofford did in its tournament rebounding-wise and shooting-wise and know that if we do what we're supposed to do we should be able to handle that."
Tennessee will look to get back to form and improve to 6-1 in tournament openers under Barnes and reach the round of 32 for a fourth consecutive year.
