INDIANAPOLIS —Tennessee and Kentucky have played 241 times in basketball.

They’ve met in SEC Tournament Championship games and played enough classic regular season games to inspire a movie script.

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The Vols and Wildcats will play in a game and on a stage they’ve never played on before Friday at Lucas Oil Stadium (7:39 p.m. ET, TBS/TruTV).

Tennessee and Kentucky will meet for the third time this season with stakes higher than they’ve ever been in the series that dates back to 1910.

It is the Sweet 16, a game the 2-seed Vols (29-7) have been to 11 times, including a program-best three-straight under Rick Barnes. The prize? Getting the 3-seed Wildcats (24-11) back for two regular season losses, a second consecutive Elite Eight berth and a big step towards Tennessee’s first-ever Final Four.

The Vols path to this point included convincing wins over 15-seed Wofford and 7-seed UCLA in the First and Second Rounds in Lexington last weekend. Tennessee looked every bit the part of the best defensive team in college basketball. At least one of the best.

It will need more of that against Kentucky.

The Wildcats, who beat 14-seed Troy and 6-seed Illinois, shot 50% from three-point range in each of their two regular season clashes with Tennessee.

They have six players that average double scoring figures, including leading-scorer Otega Oweh, who scores 16.3 per game. Kentucky averages 85.3 points an outing.

The Vols, meanwhile, are giving up just 60.0 points per game in the tournament and suffocated the Bruins with a 1-2-2 press that turned a back-and-forth slugfest into an all out route. The final nine-point margin was deceiving.

The offense has been good, too. Chaz Lanier shot his way into the program record books against UCLA, hitting four 3-pointers to reach 120 on the season and breaking Chris Lofton's single-season record.

Lanier finished with 20 in that game. He scored 29 in the game before and has totaled 20 or more points in seven of the Vols' last 11 games.

If Friday is another night where shots are falling for the Wildcats, Lanier will be paramount in Tennessee keeping pace.

Who: 2-seed Tennessee (29-7) vs. 3-seed Kentucky (24-11)

When: Friday, March 28 | 7:39 p.m. ET

Where: Lucas Oil Stadium | Indianapolis

TV: TBS/TruTV (Andrew Catalon, play-by-play; Steve Lappas, analyst; Evan Washburn, reporter)

Radio: Vol Network (Bob Kesling, play-by-play; Bert Bertelkamp, analyst)

Series: 242nd meeting all-time (Kentucky leads, 163-78)

KenPom Projection: Tennessee 76, Kentucky 72

POINTS PER GAME

Kentucky 85.0

Tennessee 74.6

FIELD GOAL PERCENTAGE

Kentucky 48.1%

Tennessee 45.4%

THREE-POINT PERCENTAGE

Kentucky 37.4%

Florida 34.5%

MORE FROM VOLREPORT: Everything Rick Barnes, Tennessee players said before facing Kentucky

ASSISTS

Kentucky 17.1

Tennessee 15.5

REBOUNDS

Kentucky 38.4

Tennessee 36.5

BLOCKS

Tennessee 4.9

Kentucky 4.0

-- Tennessee ranks third in adjusted defensive efficiency, holding opponents to 89.2 points per 100 possessions, according to KenPem. Kentucky is 10th in adjusted offensive efficiency, scoring 123.8 points per 100 possessions.

-- Tennessee has had 27 teams reach the NCAA Tournament all-time. Those teams are a combined 28-30 overall vs. Kentucky with a 3-2 mark at neutral sites.

MORE FROM VOLREPORT: Everything Kentucky coach Mark Pope said before Sweet 16 vs. Tennessee

-- Tennessee guard Zakai Zeigler, who became the program’s career assist leader in the Vols’ First Round game against Wofford, needs one more assist to set the SEC single-season assist record. He is currently tied with former Ole Miss guard Sean Tuohy at 260 assists.

-- Tennessee is 30-27 in NCAA Tournament games all-time and 11-6 under Rick Barnes. The Vols’ 27 NCAA Tournament teams are a combined 28-30 vs. Kentucky, including a 3-2 mark at neutral sites. Barnes leads all Tennessee men’s basketball coaches with 11 career wins over the Wildcats.

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