This week across Men and Women’s college basketball was the SEC/ACC Challenge which consisted of teams from the Southeastern Conference playing against teams from the Atlantic Coast Conference. Both the Tennessee Volunteers and Lady Volunteers contributed with wins to the SEC in the challenge.
It started Tuesday night as Rick Barnes and his 3rd ranked Tennessee Volunteers went “Dark Mode” to take on the Syracuse Orange. The Vols debuted the all black uniform which is similar to the football and baseball teams. The Vols led in both halves to defeat the team from New York with a final of 96-70. Chaz Lanier was the top shooter for Tennessee with 26 points. Syracuse’s Elijah Moore came off the bench to lead the Orange with 24 points. #3 Tennessee starts a two game road trip with its first stop in Miami to take on the Hurricanes on Tuesday December 10th at 4:30 PM.
Wednesday saw Kim Caldwell’s squad represent the Southeastern Conference against the Seminoles of Florida State while wearing the “Summitt Blue” uniforms. Tennessee was ahead 18 points over FSU at the half but saw that lead disappear to start the 4th quarter tied 57-57. The Lady Vols were resilient and held off the hard charging Seminoles 79-77. Talaysia Cooper was the top scorer for Tennessee with 22 points, while Florida State’s Ta’Niya Latson was ahead of all scoring with 38 points. The Lady Vols stay undefeated at 6-0. Tennessee now heads to Brooklyn for the Women’s Champions Classic where they will play the Iowa Hawkeyes on Friday December 7th at 6:00 PM.