Traveling to Nashville's Bridgestone Arena and actually playing a basketball game there have become two very different things for the Tennessee Volunteers.
Tennessee's anticipated in-state showdown against Memphis was canceled Saturday roughly an hour before its noon Eastern tipoff due to COVID-19 protocols for the Tigers. The 18th-ranked Vols were at Bridgestone for the first time since reaching the Southeastern Conference tournament semifinals in March, and the cancellation brought back memories of the 2020 SEC event, which was halted due to the outbreak of the coronavirus about an hour before Tennessee was scheduled to face Alabama.
"We got a call right when we got on the bus that there was a possibility the game might not be played," Tennessee coach Rick Barnes told reporters Saturday. "That was about 9:25 this morning when we came over. Then we were doing what we do, our prep, and then they came back and said the game had been canceled."
There was the brief hope Tennessee would instead conduct an intrasquad scrimmage in front of thousands of its fans, but that was not the case. The Vols ultimately did scrimmage, but only in front of a few dozen spectators who had entered the 19,395-seat facility before news of the cancellation was revealed.
"We were of the belief fans could still access the arena," Tennessee announced on its official Twitter account for men's basketball. "That was not the case, and we apologize for the confusion. Like you, we're disappointed in today's outcome.
"Y'all showed up in force. We hate to have lost an opportunity to play in front of Vol Nation."
Tennessee Athletics photo / Tennessee freshman point guard Zakai Zeigler drives during an intrasquad scrimmage Saturday afternoon inside Nashville's Bridgestone Arena that resulted after Memphis had to cancel the in-state matchup due to coronavirus-related reasons.Memphis executive associate athletic director Adam Walker told the Memphis Commercial Appeal that two Tigers players tested positive for COVID, and that due to contact tracing, the rest of the roster was ruled out. The Commercial Appeal reported that Memphis coach Penny Hardaway said before the season that "probably 90%" of his players were vaccinated.
Barnes said Saturday's game will not be made up due to a lack of open dates the rest of the way.
Tennessee's next game is Wednesday night, when the Vols host No. 8 Arizona in a contest that will tip at 7 and be televised by ESPN2. They will then have Christmas weekend off before opening SEC play Dec. 29 at No. 6 Alabama.
"The unknown is about over for us," Barnes said. "We have an SEC rule. You have to play or forfeit. There are no ifs, ands or buts about it."
ESPN2 was scheduled to televise the UT-Memphis game but wound up showing the Boca Raton Bowl between Appalachian State and Western Kentucky, which could also be found on ESPN.
Contact David Paschall at dpaschall@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6524. Follow him on Twitter @DavidSPaschall.