The Iowa State men’s basketball team will host Tennessee at Hilton Coliseum in the 2018 Big 12/SEC Challenge on Saturday, January 27. For the third straight year, all games will be played in one day with ESPN networks televising each game.
Iowa State and Tennessee have met twice, splitting the previous meetings. This will be the first meeting between the schools since 1977.
The Cyclones return just five players from last year’s team that finished the season 24-11 and advanced to the second round of the NCAA Tournament. Tennessee, which is coached by former Texas head coach Rick Barnes, went 16-16 last season and loses two of its top three scorers.
Iowa State is 2-2 all-time in the challenge, beating Auburn and Arkansas at home the first two seasons and falling on the road to Texas A&M and Vanderbilt the last two years. The Cyclones are 4-4 all-time in challenge games (2-0 vs. Oregon State, 0-2 vs. California, 1-0 vs. Auburn, 1-0 vs. Arkansas, 0-1 vs. Texas A&M, 0-1 vs. Vanderbilt).
The Big 12 has not lost the challenge and owns a 25-15 lead in the series.
Iowa State/Tennessee All-Time Results
12-4-1968 – ISU, 72-68 (Knoxville, Tenn.)
12-3-1977 – UT, 81-76 (Tempe, Ariz.)
2018 Big 12/SEC Challenge – Saturday, Jan. 27
Tennessee at Iowa State
Baylor at Florida
Texas A&M at Kansas
Georgia at Kansas State
Oklahoma at Alabama
Oklahoma State at Arkansas
TCU at Vanderbilt
Mississippi at Texas
Texas Tech at South Carolina
Kentucky at West Virginia