The Tennessee Volunteers swept through their six December nonconference basketball opponents by an average victory margin of 28.2 points.
Such a gap is not expected for Wednesday night's Southeastern Conference opener (9 on the SEC Network), which pits the No. 7 Vols against No. 12 Missouri inside Mizzou Arena. Tennessee's seventh game of this coronavirus-altered season will be its first away from Thompson-Boling Arena.
"It's something I don't think is ideal, and it's why it was hard when we lost the game at Notre Dame and the neutral-site game (against Gonzaga in Indianapolis)," Tennessee coach Rick Barnes said this week. "This is not the way it usually is, but it's an unusual year as we all know. I'm sure it's happened to some other teams, but I don't know because I haven't looked around at everybody's schedule nationally.
"It's not the ideal thing we would have liked with the way our preseason went, but with that said, it is here and we have to be ready to go play against a very good Missouri basketball team."
Missouri and Tennessee are each 6-0, and they are among the 13 programs nationally who are undefeated through at least six games. The Tigers already have two triumphs over ranked opponents - Oregon and Illinois - and are seeking a third in the first pairing of ranked teams inside Mizzou Arena since the No. 21 Tigers topped No. 23 Ole Miss on Feb. 9, 2013.
The Tigers and Vols are easily two of the SEC's most seasoned teams, with Mizzou's returning core accounting for a whopping 99.3% of its scoring this season. Junior guard Xavier Pinson is averaging a team-leading 14.3 points per game for fourth-year coach Cuonzo Martin, while senior forward Jeremiah Tilmon averages a team-high 7.8 rebounds and has 78 career starts.
"They're really good defensively," Barnes said. "They're a heavy gap team that does a great job of swarming in and wanting to break the ball loose and get out in transition. They're playing at a much faster pace than they have probably since we've gone up against them with Cuonzo being there with them.
"So they're different, but I think they're a very well-coached team on both sides. They know who they are, and they play to that."
Tennessee enters SEC competition with four players averaging in double figures - Victor Bailey Jr. (13.2), John Fulkerson (11.8), Jaden Springer (11.5) and Josiah-Jordan James (10.0) - and three more who aren't that far off - Santiago Vescovi (8.0), Keon Johnson (7.7) and Yves Pons (7.5).
With his Vols ranking among the top-10 nationally in fewest points allowed (52.7) and turnover margin (plus-7.5), Barnes cites consistency as the area in which he wants to see the most improvement in the games ahead.
"I don't think we've had one guy who's been absolutely consistent," Barnes said. "I would say our most consistent player has been Josiah. Overall, him and Santi are two guys who have been fairly consistent, but the other guys haven't been as consistent as I know they have to be and what I think they will become."
Contact David Paschall at dpaschall@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6524.