Tennessee's big challenge at North Carolina: Facing a third straight All-American forward

Tennessee basketball will doing something its never done before when it tips off at North Carolina Wednesday night. For the first time in program history, the Vols will have played three consecutive non-conference games against ranked teams.

Last week it was No. 1 Kansas and No. 2 Purdue in the Maui Invitational. Now the 10th-ranked Vols (4-2) face the 17th-ranked Tar Heels (5-1) in the inaugural ACC-SEC Challenge at the Dean Smith Center in Chapel Hill, N.C. 

Maybe more impressive is Tennessee matching up in three straight games against All-American big men. 

First it was Purdue center Zach Edey, then Kansas star transfer forward Hunter Dickinson. Now it’s North Carolina’s Armando Bacot. They represent three of the five spots on the AP’s preseason All-American team. 

“Those are the top two, or a couple top centers in the nation,” Tennessee’s Dalton Knecht said on Monday, “and I think Jonas (Aidoo) did really good against them. So I think it’s just gonna get us that much better, learning from those two to get ready for Bacot.”

No. 10 Tennessee at No. 17 North Carolina, Wednesday, 7:15 p.m. ET, ESPN

“You’re talking about three of the premier, best post guys in the country,” Rick Barnes added. “And they all have a different game. But they all present problems in the fact that they know where they want the ball, they know what they can do with it when it gets there. And those guys are good too because of their supporting cast they surround themselves with.”

Edey went for 23 points and 10 rebounds in Purdue’s 71-67 win over Tennessee in the Maui Invitational last week. Dickinson a day later had 17 points and 20 rebounds in a 69-60 Kansas win.

“I think Purdue does a a great job with how they run their schemes,” Barnes said, “and certainly Bill (Self) at Kansas, what he does with his group to get them to understand where he wants the ball when he wants it. 

“And I think Hubert Davis has done a really good job blending these young guys in with where they want them to be. And I think they’re a much improved team from a year ago.”

Rick Barnes: ‘I look at all those teams and I throw us in there too’

Bacot this season is averaging 15.8 points and 11.7 rebounds in 27.3 minutes per game. He has averaged a double-double each of the last two seasons, including a career high 16.3 points and 13.1 rebounds in 2021-22 while leading UNC to the national championship game.

He was held to just 17 total points in North Carolina’s final two games in the Battle 4 Atlantis last week, scoring eight in a loss to Villanova and nine in a win over Arkansas. He had 18 rebounds against Nova, then just four against the Razorbacks. 

“He’s going to be a focal point,” North Carolina coach Hubert Davis said of Bacot on Tuesday. “He has been every game. They’re not going to let him just post up and score. They’re going to make it very difficult for him, they’re going to hard dig, they’re going to double-team, they’re going to be physical with him. 

“And those are things that all of us as players have to adjust to and be able to be the best that we can be out there on the floor.”

What Barnes believes after facing Kansas, Purdue and North Carolina in consecutive games is that Tennessee belongs in the same conversation.

“I look at all those teams and I throw us in there too,” he said. “We’re all gonna get better and continue to work the way we need to work.”