How To Watch: No. 20 Tennessee Basketball vs. No. 11 Louisville

After 26 days away from home, No. 20 Tennessee Basketball returns to Food City Center to host No. 11 Louisville Tuesday in a 7 p.m. Eastern Time start on ESPN. The Vols have dropped three straight away from home and have been off since the loss to Illinois in Nashville on December 6.

Tennessee (7-3) lost to Kansas 81-76 on November 26 in the Players Era Festival in Las Vegas, giving up a 12-point lead with 15 minutes left. The Vols lost 62-60 at Syracuse in the ACC-SEC Challenge on December 2, before the neutral-site loss to Illinois at Bridgestone Arena 10 days ago.

Louisville (9-1) beat Memphis 99-73 at home on Saturday, after an 87-78 win over Indiana in Indianapolis on December 6. The Vols won 77-55 at Memphis early last season in the start of the two-year home-and-home.

How To Watch: No. 20 Tennessee vs. No. 11 Louisville

When: Tuesday, 7 p.m. Eastern Time | Where: Food City Center

TV: ESPN (Karl Ravech, Jimmy Dykes)

Streaming: ESPN App

Radio: WNML 99.1 FM (Mike Keith, Chris Lofton) in Knoxville. The Vol Network radio broadcast can be heard on local affiliates across the state of Tennessee.

Satellite Radio: SiriusXM 84, SXM App

BetMGM: Tennessee -2.5 | Total: 157.5

KenPom.com Prediction: Tennessee 80, Louisville 79

A closer look at Louisville

Louisville is ranked No. 11 in both the Associated Press Top 25 and Coaches Poll — Tennessee stayed at No. 20 in the AP Top 25 on Monday and dropped to No. 23 in the Coaches Poll — and is ranked No. 10 overall in the KenPom.com ratings.

Louisville has the No. 2 KenPom offense with an adjusted efficiency rating of 127.1. The Cardinals are No. 34 in adjusted defensive efficiency of 99.3.

Pat Kelsey’s team started 7-0, including a home win over Kentucky, before losing 89-80 at Arkansas in the ACC-SEC Challenge on December 3. Louisville bounced back with an 87-78 win over Indiana in Indianapolis on December 6 and a 99-73 home win over Memphis on Saturday. 

Ryan Conwell, a transfer from Xavier, leads Louisville in scoring at 19.4 points per game, just ahead of five-star freshman guard Mikel Brown Jr. at 16.6 points per game. Isaac McKneely, a Virginia transfer who picked Louisville over Tennessee, is averaging 11.4 points per game and freshman forward Sananda Fru averages 10.6 points and 6.2 rebounds per game. 

Vols ranked No. 18 in KenPom, No. 35 in NET

Tennessee is ranked No. 18 overall in the KenPom.com ratings. The Vols are No. 13 in adjusted defensive efficiency (96.0) and No. 39 in adjusted offensive efficiency (119.1). 

The NET has Tennessee at No. 35, dropping 24 spots from last week’s first NET ranking update of the season. Tennessee is 1-2 in Quad 1 games, 0-1 in Quad 2, 2-0 in Quad 3 and 4-0 in Quad 4.

After five straight games away from home, the Vols now have three straight home games, hosting Gardner Webb (Sunday) and South Carolina State (December 30) after the Louisville game. SEC play starts at Arkansas on January 3.