KNOXVILLE, Tenn. — Tennessee basketball gets a top-10 test before the games count, taking on No. 2 Duke in an exhibition Tuesday night at Cameron Indoor Stadium in Durham, North Carolina.
Tipoff for the matchup with the eighth-ranked Vols is set for 7 p.m. Eastern, and the game will air on ACC Network. It is the second preseason exhibition for Rick Barnes and his team after a loss to Xavier last Thursday.
The two programs share a recent distinction. No other programs have made it to the final eight of the NCAA Tournament three years running.
One Vol is likely to sit again. Barnes said Monday morning he does not expect guard Tyler Lundblade to play, though he is making progress. The Belmont transfer had back surgery in August after an oral steroid and an injection failed to fix the problem, and he also missed the Xavier game. Lundblade first practiced this preseason on Oct. 6, cleared only for five-on-zero work, and moved up to five-on-five before the Xavier exhibition. Barnes said doctors want him building back slowly.
Duke brings plenty of firepower. Coach Jon Scheyer, starting his fifth season, owns 124 wins, the most by any Division I coach in his first four years, and the Blue Devils carry a 32-game home winning streak and a 63-3 home mark under him. Duke went 35-3 last season and returns four of its top six scorers, among them Dame Sarr, Caleb Foster, Patrick Ngongba and Cayden Boozer. The Blue Devils opened their preseason by beating Belmont 102-62 in an Oct. 8 scrimmage, and the Vols are one of two ranked teams on its exhibition slate, along with No. 17 Kansas. Nine preseason top-20 teams dot its regular-season schedule, one of them twice.
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