No. 20 Tennessee hosts Williams and Gardner-Webb

By Canadian Press on December 20, 2025.

Gardner-Webb Runnin’ Bulldogs (2-12) at Tennessee Volunteers (8-3)

Knoxville, Tennessee; Sunday, 3 p.m. EST

BOTTOM LINE: Gardner-Webb plays No. 20 Tennessee after Curtis Williams III scored 20 points in Gardner-Webb’s 105-65 victory over the Toccoa Falls Screaming Eagles.

The Volunteers are 6-0 in home games. Tennessee ranks third in the SEC in rebounding with 39.8 rebounds. Nate Ament leads the Volunteers with 7.1 boards.

The Runnin’ Bulldogs are 0-7 in road games. Gardner-Webb averages 13.6 turnovers per game and is 1-3 when committing fewer turnovers than opponents.

Tennessee is shooting 47.5% from the field this season, 3.1 percentage points lower than the 50.6% Gardner-Webb allows to opponents. Gardner-Webb averages 6.9 made 3-pointers per game this season, 0.6 fewer makes per game than Tennessee allows.

TOP PERFORMERS: Ja’Kobi Gillespie is scoring 17.8 points per game with 2.7 rebounds and 5.4 assists for the Volunteers. Ament is averaging 15.8 points, 6.9 rebounds and 1.6 steals over the past 10 games.

Spence Sims is shooting 49.2% from beyond the arc with 2.3 made 3-pointers per game for the Runnin’ Bulldogs, while averaging 10.4 points. Jacob Hogarth is averaging 11.9 points and 8.3 rebounds over the past 10 games.

LAST 10 GAMES: Volunteers: 7-3, averaging 81.6 points, 39.0 rebounds, 18.7 assists, 8.1 steals and 3.8 blocks per game while shooting 47.3% from the field. Their opponents have averaged 66.1 points per game.

Runnin’ Bulldogs: 2-8, averaging 70.7 points, 29.9 rebounds, 10.7 assists, 5.9 steals and 2.7 blocks per game while shooting 43.4% from the field. Their opponents have averaged 84.9 points.

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The Associated Press created this story using technology provided by Data Skrive and data from Sportradar.

The Associated Press