Vols Basketball: Tennessee and Arizona finalizing a home and home series

Tennessee basketball has another non-conference matchup set for the upcoming season. The Volunteers will take on the Arizona Wildcats this winter in Knoxville, and then return the favor in Tucson during the following season.

The report came from Jon Rothstein on Monday.

Arizona will be breaking in a new head coach this season, following Sean Miller’s exit. Tommy Lloyd comes over from Gonzaga, looking to reset a powerful program. The Wildcats went 17-9 last season.

Tennessee and Arizona have met four times, with the Volunteers winning three of those matchups. The last meeting came back in 1998.

Arizona joins Colorado and Memphis on the 2021-22 schedule so far for Tennessee. The Vols will also take part in the Hall of Fame Tip-Off Tournament at Mohegan Sun, which will feature North Carolina, Purdue and Villanova.

Tennessee will be breaking in a drastically different roster, led by a couple of five-star freshmen. Getting point guard Kennedy Chander and power forward Brandon Huntley-Hutfield up to speed quickly will be a key, in what should be more of a normal season. Rick Barnes didn’t have that luxury last season with Keon Johnson and Jaden Springer, as all preseason tournaments and several non-conference matchups were canceled due to the pandemic.

Expect a few more additions to the schedule to leak out over the next couple of months.