Tennessee has a marquee win on its resume and its toughest stretch of its non-conference slate behind it.

The No. 12 Vols, fresh off of beating a ranked Illinois team, 86-79 last Saturday, begins its final four games in December against a winless Georgia Southern team on Tuesday at Food City Center.

TALK ABOUT IT IN THE ROCKY TOP FORUM

ENJOY VOLREPORT WITH A PREMIUM SUBSCRIPTION

Paced by Dalton Knecht, who scored 16 of his 21 points during Tennessee's second half surge to pull ahead of the Fighting Illini, the Vols (6-3) seem to be clicking offensively with veteran guards Josiah-Jordan James, Santiago Vescovi, Jahmai Mashack and Zakai Zeigler playing at a high level over the last two games.

Tennessee is healthy, too with Tobe Awaka returning from injury and bolstering the frontcourt alongside Jonas Aidoo, who is averaging more than 10 points and seven rebounds through nine games.

The Eagles (0-9) are coming of a 64-56 loss at North Florida.

Here is a closer look at the match up.

Who: Georgia Southern (0-9) at No. 12 Tennessee (6-3)

When: Tuesday, Dec. 12 | 7 p.m. ET

Where: Food City Center | Knoxville

TV: SEC Network (Tom Hart, play-by-play; Jimmy Dykes, analyst)

KenPom Projection: Tennessee 90, Georgia Southern 59

Series: First meeting

POINTS PER GAME:

Tennessee 78.6, Georgia Southern 68.0

FIELD GOAL PERCENTAGE:

Tennessee 43.9%, Georgia Southern 40.6%

THREE-POINT PERCENTAGE:

Georgia Southern 34.0%, Tennessee 33.2%

REBOUNDS:

Tennessee 38.2, Georgia Southern 31.2

MORE FROM VOLREPORT: Dalton Knecht uses 1-on-1s with Jahmai Mashack to sharpen game

ASSISTS:

Tennessee 16.0, Georgia Southern 9.3

BLOCKS:

Tennessee 4.7, Georgia Southern 3.2

STEALS:

Tennessee 7.3, Georgia Southern 6.6

-- Josiah-Jordan James is arguably playing the basketball of his Tennessee career. In addition to his 12 points vs. Illinois, he tallied a career-high seven assists and six rebounds.

-- Dalton Knecht has scored 16 or more points and led Tennessee in scoring in seven of its nine games. He scored 20-plus points in three games, including two of the last three. Knecht is currently second in the SEC in scoring, averaging 19.2 points per game.

-- Tennessee moved up in both majors polls this week after beating Illinois. The Vols jumped five spots to No. 12 in the AP Top 25 and three spots to No. 10 in the USA TODAY Sports Coaches Poll. Tennessee is No. 9 in KenPom's rankings.

MORE FROM VOLREPORT: Tennessee basketball moves up in latest AP Top 25 poll

-- Tennessee has gone through the gauntlet in the last month, facing then-No. 1 Kansas, No. 2 Purdue and No. 17 North Carolina in consecutive games away from its home floor before hosting No. 20 Illinois. The schedule lightens up over the next few weeks with games against Georgia Southern, NC State, Tarleton State and Norfolk State before SEC play begins Jan. 6 vs. Ole Miss.

-- Georgia Southern was tasked with replacing three of its top scorers from a year ago. The Eagles, who finished 17-16 last season, were picked to finished 13th in the Sun Belt in the preseason.

–––––

– TALK ABOUT IT IN THE ROCKY TOP FORUM.

– ENJOY VOLREPORT WITH A PREMIUM SUBSCRIPTION.

– SUBSCRIBE TO THE VOLREPORT YOUTUBE CHANNEL.

– FOLLOW VOLREPORT ON TWITTER: @TennesseeRivals, @TMansfieldMedia, @ByNoahTaylor, @RealTBannerman, @RyanTSylvia, @Dale_Dowden, @ShayneP_Media, @TylerIvens, @Hunter_DeNote.

–––––