Tennessee basketball moves up in Associated Press Top 25

The Tennessee men’s basketball team is riding a five-game win streak into the New Year.

The Vols, fresh off of a 65-46 win over Tarleton State in their last outing, jumped two spots to No. 6 in the latest Associated Press Top 25 poll on Monday as SEC play looms.

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Tennessee, now 9-3 overall, has moved up in each of the last three AP polls and has spent the last two weeks inside the top 10 since opening the season at No. 9.

The Vols are ranked No. 7 in the USA TODAY Sports Coaches Poll.

Tennessee’s non-conference slate, which included marquee games against ranked Purdue, Kansas, North Carolina and Illinois teams, wraps up on Jan. 2 against Norfolk State at Food City Center (7 p.m. ET, SEC Network) before opening up its conference schedule vs. No. 24 Ole Miss on Jan. 6 in Knoxville.

Tennessee is in the middle of an 11-day break between games.

The stretch provides a much-needed hiatus after facing one of the toughest schedules in college basketball through the first two months of the season. It also allows the Vols to return to full health after having numerous players either banged up or miss games with injuries.

“Everybody needs a break right now,” Tennessee head coach Rick Barnes said. “We’ve traveled a lot. We’ve played a lot of big games and hard games. I mean, think about it, we played some hard games, different styles.”

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“The main part is the mental break,” Guard Santiago Vescovi added. “That’s going to be the best thing. Have a couple days to enjoy families. Be around the ones we love. Just focus on, coach said one of the main things, just don’t get hurt. I think that’s one of the biggest things. Come back locked in. Enjoy as much as you can the break, just take your mind off everything. Enjoy it. Enjoy the time. But then once we get back, we definitely got to be locked in.

“I know whats to come for us and we know we’re going to need everybody for SEC play once we start.”