KNOXVILLE, Tenn. — The Lady Vols are in the NCAA Tournament for the 40th consecutive season. However, this week will be the first time since the 2017-18 season that Tennessee hosts the first two rounds of March Madness.
UT comes in as a no. 4 seed in the Wichita Region. They will play the 13th-seeded Buffalo Bulls in the first round on March 19.
Tennessee starts the NCAA Tournament with a 23-8 overall record. However, only two of those losses came inside Thompson-Boling Arena.
The Lady Vols will be without top scorer Jordan Horston for the sixth consecutive game on Saturday. The junior guard suffered a fractured dislocation of the elbow on Feb. 17. There is no official date for her return. On Friday, head coach Kellie Harper said that Horston is not practicing.
Senior guard Rae Burrell is Tennessee's leading scorer, among active players. She averages 11.8 points per game.
Buffalo enters March Madness on a nine-game winning streak and a 25-8 overall record. The Bulls went 7-5 on the road this season.
The Bulls are led by junior guard Dyaisha Fair, who scores 23.4 points per game and has a team-high 69 steals. Senior forward Summer Hemphill averages a double-double for Buffalo with 13.1 points and 10.4 rebounds per game.
Tip-off is set for 3:00 p.m. ET on Saturday. The game airs on ABC.
