Rick Barnes is now Tennessee basketball's all-time winningest NCAA Tournament coach
DETROIT — Rick Barnes added another milestone to his run as Tennessee’s basketball coach with the 82-75 win over Creighton in the Sweet 16. He now holds the program record for NCAA Tournament wins with the Vols.
Barnes, while taking Tennessee (27-8) back to the Elite Eight for just the second time in program history, picked up his ninth NCAA Tournament win, passing Bruce Pearl. Barnes is 9-5 with Tennessee in the NCAA Tournament while Pearl finished 8-6.
Don DeVoe was 5-6 in the NCAA Tournament. Cuonzo Martin went 3-1, taking Tennessee on a run from the First Four to the Sweet 16 as a No. 11 seed in 2014. Jerry Green won three tournament games and Ray Mears was 0-4.
It was Pearl who took the Vols to the Elite Eight in 2010, losing to Michigan State after a win over Ohio State in the Sweet 16 in St. Louis.
Barnes is now 30-27 in the NCAA Tournament, coaching in the tournament 28 times during his 37-year career as a college basketball head coach.
He improved to 202-100 overall during his nine seasons with the Vols and is three wins away from moving into second place on Tennessee’s all-time wins list. Mears won 278 games in 15 seasons and DeVoe won 204 games in 11 years.
Tennessee has gone to the Sweet 16 three times under Barnes, including back-to-back trips for just the second time in school history. The Vols have been to six straight NCAA Tournament under Barnes, never lower than a No. 5 seed.
Tennessee’s NCAA Tournament history under Rick Barnes
Tennessee under Barnes has been a No. 2 seed twice, a No. 3 seed twice, a No. 4 seed and a No. 5 seed.
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A year ago the Vols went to the Sweet 16 as a No. 4 seed, beating No. 13-seed Louisiana in the first round and No. 5 Duke in the second round. They lost 62-55 to No. 9 Florida Atlantic in the third round.
They were a No. 3 in 2022, beating Longwood in the first round before being upset by No. 11-seed Michigan in the second round, and lost in the first round as a No. 5 seed, falling against No. 12 Oregon State.
Tennessee was a No. 3 in 2018, beating Wright State before losing to No. 11-seed Loyola-Chicago.
Start Time, TV info for Tennessee-Purdue in the Elite Eight
Tennessee’s game against Purdue on Sunday in the Elite Eight will be a 2:20 p.m. Eastern Time start on CBS at Little Ceasars Arena in the Midwest Regional final.
Purdue, the No. 1 seed in the Midwest, advanced with an 80-68 win over No. 5 Gonzaga in Friday’s early game. The Boilermakers opened as a 3.5-point favorite over the Vols, according to BetOnline.
Purdue (32-4) has not been to a Final Four since 1980 and is on a redemption tour after losing to No. 16-seed Fairleigh Dickinson in the first round last year.
