UT men will play in New York, Phoenix

KNOXVILLE — The Tennessee men’s basketball team’s 2018-19 schedule is highlighted by 16 games against teams that finished last season in the top 65 of the Rating Percentage Index.

While some of its games were announced earlier, Tennessee released the full schedule Friday.

The Volunteers return almost every key player from last season’s 26-9 team that shared the Southeastern Conference regular-season championship and was a No. 3 seed in the NCAA tournament. Tennessee lost 63-62 in the second round to 11th-seeded Loyola-Chicago, which made a Cinderella run to the Final Four.

The Vols’ nonconference schedule this season is highlighted by a November trip to New York for the NIT Season Tip-Off, where they will play Louisville before taking on Kansas or Marquette.

Tennessee will play Gonzaga on Dec. 9 in Phoenix as part of the Jerry Colangelo Classic. The Vols’ first game on an opponent’s home court this season is Dec. 15 at Memphis, the first of three matchups between the programs over the next three seasons.

Tennessee opens conference play by hosting Georgia on Jan. 5. Breaking up the slate of 18 league games is a Jan. 26 visit from West Virginia in the Big 12/SEC Challenge.

The Vols’ SEC schedule is highlighted by a Feb. 5 visit from Missouri, which is entering its second season under former Tennessee coach Cuonzo Martin. It will be Martin’s first game in Knoxville since his three-year tenure as the Vols’ coach ended in 2014, the year he led them to the Sweet 16 before leaving to take over at California.

The Vols play powerhouse rival Kentucky twice on the back end of the schedule before closing the regular season at Auburn. Tennessee shared last year’s SEC regular-season title with Auburn, though the Tigers beat the Vols 94-84 in Knoxville and were seeded No. 1 for the league tournament.