On Thursday night, Tennessee basketball opens its March Madness run with a game against Wofford in Lexington, Kentucky.

Prior to tip-off, there are plenty of storylines already making rounds.

Here's what you need to know.

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You may have seen Wofford coach Dwight Perry before. He was a member of Kentucky basketball from 2006-2009 where he played in 19 games while averaging 0.3 points, 0.2 rebounds and 0.1 assists per game.

Not only does this likely give Perry a healthy disliking of orange before the matchup, but it'll be a return home for him. The battle between the Vols and Terriers will be played on Kentucky's home floor of Rupp Arena in Lexington.

"It’s extremely special," Perry said in a Wofford interview after the selection show. "Obviously, it’s my alma mater. I have a lot of great friends. It’s an unbelievable place. Obviously, their tradition in basketball really doesn’t need any introduction.

"More than anything, I'm really excited for our guys to be able to continue this journey this year, not have it end. It's a really tough opponent. Tennessee, they're phenomenal, they're well-coached. They have a Hall of Fame coach in Coach Barnes. Their program's track record speaks for itself. I think it's a really cool experience for our guys to be able to play in Lexington against a great team like Tennessee in one of the more storied venues in Rupp Arena."

One of Wofford's best players takes an unconventional approach at the free throw line.

Kyler Filewich is averaging 11.9 points, 9.4 rebounds and 3.1 assists per game for the Terriers. The issue is he's a 31.8% free throw shooter.

Due to his ineffiencies at the line, Filewich has taken the appraoch of using an two-handed, under-hand granny shot for his free throws.

This has caught the attention of some fans and Vols assistant coach Rod Clark.

"Rick Barry, didn’t he do that? In like the 1960s or something like that," Clark said. "Yeah, my mom was born then and she’s 60, so that’s a long time ago. But if it works for him, I’m good with it. Like, do your thing, big fella. And it looks like he works on them a lot. (Tennessee assistant Gregg Polinsky) does too in practice. But, yeah, it’s effective for him. It’s obviously unique. I’m sure college basketball fans are gonna love watching it. It’s cool."

Before Jordan Gainey got to Tennessee, he spent a pair of seasons at USC Upstate. While there, he spent one season with Justin Bailey.

Now, Bailey is in his first season with Wofford. There, he is averaging 9.6 points, 3.5 rebounds, 1.7 assists and 1.2 steals per game as a starter.

"He's a really good basketball player," Gainey said. "A great guy off the court. That's my little brother. He's grown so much since my sophomore year, his freshman year. I've tuned in to every single game he's been a part of since his sophomore year at Upstate and junior year at Wofford. Tremendous basketball player, really strong. It'll be fun matching up with him."

Gainey has already talked to Bailey ahead of the game, as well. He got in touch with him right after the teams were announced to play each other.

"I called him as soon as I saw it," Gainey said. "He was at his selection show and everything and was pretty excited. I said, 'See you in Lexington.' He was like, 'I'll see you in Lexington, too.' I was like, 'It's going to be fun.' Glad we can both live out our dreams playing in March Madness and we're going to compete and play hard."

This won't be the first time the teams have met in the previous two seasons. The Vols hosted Wofford for their third game of the season in the 2023-24 campaign that ended in an Elite Eight run behind Dalton Knecht.

In that game, Tennessee led by just five points at halftime. That was before the Vols took off for an 82-61 win, though.

Clark sees a lot of similarities between the team that gave them a bit of trouble a year ago and now.

"Well, the best player is the same guy," Clark said. "The big fella that is really skilled, No. 14 (Kyler Filewich) is really skilled. Can really pass it. Doesn’t shoot it great, but he’s a good player. They still have some of the same personnel. They still play some of the same concepts. So we know they’re still going to be a really good team. And obviously, I mean anybody who makes the Tournament right now is a good team or really hot. And they’re coming off a winning streak and winning their league title."

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