Tennessee impressed in November, but its toughest non-conference stretch will welcome the Vols into December.

A day after climbing to No. 3 in the Associated Press Top 25 and debuting at No. 1 in the college basketball NET rankings, Tennessee (7-0) will open a three-game stand against power conference teams vs. Syracuse in the ACC/SEC Challenge at Food City Center on Tuesday.

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The Vols' November exploits included a rout of Louisville in their first true road test and then back-to-back convincing wins over Virginia and top 15 Baylor to win the Baha Mar Championship.

Chaz Lanier, the transfer guard from North Florida, who was added to Tennessee's roster in the hopes of coming close to replacing the scoring production lost with Dalton Knecht last season, has done exactly that.

Lanier leads the team in scoring, averaging 17.7 points per game and helping the Vols to the No. 11 ranking nationally in adjusted offensive efficiency according to KenPom. Fellow transfer forward Igor Milicic Jr., who has also bolstered the starting lineup, averages more than 12 points and six rebounds.

Defensively, there has been no drop off from Tennessee's Elite Eight run a year ago. Zakai Zeigler and Jahmai Mashack have headlined that end of the floor, catapulting the Vols to No. 2 in adjusted defensive efficiency, allowing just 88.7 points per opponents 100 possessions.

In a rematch of the 2023 Maui Invitational, Syracuse (4-2) has struggled early in head coach Adrian Autry's second season. The Orange started the season with three-straight wins but dropped neutral site games against Texas and Texas Tech.

Tennessee will mark Syracuse's first road game before it opens ACC play at Notre Dame next week.

Here is everything you need to know about the match up.

Who: Syracuse (4-2) at No. 3 Tennessee (7-0)

When: Tuesday, Dec. 3 | 7:30 p.m. ET

Where: Food City Center | Knoxville

TV: ESPN (Dave Pasch, play-by-play; Sean Farnham, analyst)

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

Series: Eighth meeting all-time (Tennessee leads, 4-3)

KenPom Projection: Tennessee 83, Syracuse 63

POINTS PER GAME

Tennessee 81.6

Syracuse 81.0

FIELD GOAL PERCENTAGE

Tennessee 52.3%

Syracuse 44.5%

THREE-POINT PERCENTAGE

Tennessee 38.0%

Syracuse 27.0%

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ASSISTS

Tennessee 17.9

Syracuse 14.8

REBOUNDS

Syracuse 43.0

Tennessee 38.6

BLOCKS

Tennessee 6.0

Syracuse 3.0

-- Tennessee and Syracuse first played on Dec. 15, 1972 at Stokely Athletics Center. The Vols won that game but lost the next three in the series before winning the last three. Tennessee beat the Orange, 73-56 in the Maui Invitational in Honolulu last December.

-- Tennessee and Syracuse are meeting in back-to-back games for just the second time ever. The Orange won two-straight in a home-and-home series on Dec. 9, 1992 in Knoxville and Nov. 28, 1993 in Syracuse.

-- Tennessee's schedule features four ACC teams in non-conference play. The Vols beat Louisville and Virginia last month and play Syracuse and Miami in the Jimmy V Classic at Madison Square Garden in New York City next week. Rick Barnes is 13-5 vs. ACC teams during his 10-year tenure at Tennessee.

MORE FROM VOLREPORT: Tennessee sits atop SEC-heavy NET rankings

-- Chaz Lanier if off to a strong start, both in the SEC and nationally. The Tennessee guard leads the league three-point shots made with an average of 3.86 per game. That number is good for eighth in Division I men's basketball.

-- Tennessee is on the cusp of its first 8-0 start since the 2000-01 season. The Vols began that season 9-0 before finishing 22-11 and reaching the First Round of the NCAA Tournament. Tuesday will mark Tennessee's 600th home game inside Food City Center where it holds a 457-142 all-time record.

-- Syracuse was tabbed for an 11th place finish in the ACC preseason media poll. The Orange are led in scoring by junior guard J.J. Starling. He is currently second in the ACC in scoring with 19.8 points per game.

Source: Tennessee game notes

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