# 1982–83 Tennessee Volunteers basketball team

The 1982–83 Tennessee Volunteers basketball team represented the University of Tennessee as a member of the Southeastern Conference during the 1982–83 college basketball season. Led by head coach Don DeVoe, the team played their home games at the Stokely Athletic Center in Knoxville, Tennessee. The Volunteers finished with a record of 20–12 (9–9 SEC, 7th) and received an at-large bid to the 1983 NCAA tournament as the 8 seed in the Mideast region. After an opening round win over Marquette, Tennessee was defeated by high-flying No. 1 seed Louisville.
Senior Dale Ellis was named the SEC Player of the Year for the second consecutive season. Ellis would be drafted by the Dallas Mavericks with the 9th pick of the first round of the 1983 NBA draft.

## Schedule and results

| Date time, TV | Rank$^#$ | Opponent$^#$ | Result | Record | Site (attendance) city, state |
| Regular season ||||||
| Nov 27, 1982* | No. 13 | Biscayne | W 84–59 | 1–0 | Stokely Athletics Center Knoxville, Tennessee |
| Dec 1, 1982* | No. 14 | at Chattanooga | W 55–49 | 2–0 | UTC Arena Chattanooga, Tennessee |
| Dec 8, 1982* | No. 14 | Arizona | W 92–73 | 3–0 | Stokely Athletics Center Knoxville, Tennessee |
| Dec 11, 1982* | No. 14 | New Orleans | W 76–74 | 4–0 | Stokely Center Knoxville, Tennessee |
| Dec 17, 1982* | No. 11 | St. Francis (NY) Volunteer Classic | W 70–51 | 5–0 | Stokely Center Knoxville, Tennessee |
| Dec 18, 1982* | No. 11 | Miami (OH) Volunteer Classic | W 69–62 | 6–0 | Stokely Center Knoxville, Tennessee |
| Dec 22, 1982* | No. 11 | Oklahoma City | W 99–56 | 7–0 | Stokely Center Knoxville, Tennessee |
| Dec 28, 1982* | No. 8 | vs. San Jose State Las Vegas Holiday Classic | W 50–42 | 8–0 | Las Vegas Convention Center Las Vegas, Nevada |
| Dec 29, 1982* | No. 8 | at No. 15 UNLV Las Vegas Holiday Classic | L 54–70 | 8–1 | Las Vegas Convention Center Las Vegas, Nevada |
| Jan 3, 1983 | No. 12 | Georgia | W 87–76 | 9–1 (1–0) | Stokely Center Knoxville, Tennessee |
| Jan 8, 1983 | No. 12 | at Ole Miss | L 55–56 | 9–2 (1–1) | Tad Smith Coliseum Oxford, Mississippi |
| Jan 10, 1983 | No. 12 | at LSU | W 59–58 | 10–2 (2–1) | LSU Assembly Center Baton Rouge, Louisiana |
| Jan 15, 1983 | No. 18 | Mississippi State | L 74–75 | 10–3 (2–2) | Stokely Center Knoxville, Tennessee |
| Jan 18, 1983 | | Alabama | W 73–64 | 11–3 (3–2) | Stokely Center Knoxville, Tennessee |
| Jan 22, 1983 | | at Florida | L 74–78 | 11–4 (3–3) | Stephen C. O'Connell Center Gainesville, Florida |
| Jan 24, 1983 | | at Auburn | W 80–77 | 12–4 (4–3) | Beard-Eaves-Memorial Coliseum Auburn, Alabama |
| Jan 29, 1983 | | Vanderbilt | L 60–61 | 12–5 (4–4) | Stokely Center Knoxville, Tennessee |
| Jan 31, 1983 | | No. 15 Kentucky | W 65–63 | 13–5 (5–4) | Stokely Center Knoxville, Tennessee |
| Feb 5, 1983* | | Ole Miss | W 65–53 | 14–5 (6–4) | Stokely Center Knoxville, Tennessee |
| Feb 7, 1983 | | LSU | W 66–63 | 15–5 (7–4) | Stokely Center Knoxville, Tennessee |
| Feb 12, 1983 | | at Mississippi State | L 66–75 | 15–6 (7–5) | Humphrey Coliseum Starkville, Mississippi |
| Feb 14, 1983 | | at Alabama | L 78–90 | 15–7 (7–6) | Coleman Coliseum Tuscaloosa, Alabama |
| Feb 19, 1983 | | Florida | W 78–53 | 16–7 (8–6) | Stokely Center Knoxville, Tennessee |
| Feb 22, 1983 | No. 20 | Auburn | W 82–74 | 17–7 (9–6) | Stokely Center Knoxville, Tennessee |
| Feb 24, 1983 | No. 20 | at Vanderbilt | L 68–69 | 17–8 (9–7) | Memorial Gymnasium Nashville, Tennessee |
| Feb 27, 1983 | No. 20 | at No. 10 Kentucky | L 61–69 | 17–9 (9–8) | Rupp Arena Lexington, Kentucky |
| Mar 5, 1983 | | at Georgia | L 59–74 | 17–10 (9–9) | Stegeman Coliseum Athens, Georgia |
| SEC tournament ||||||
| Mar 7, 1983* TVS | | vs. Florida First round | W 78–62 | 18–10 | Birmingham-Jefferson Civic Center Birmingham, Alabama |
| Mar 8, 1983* TVS | | vs. LSU Quarterfinals | W 74–71 | 19–10 | Birmingham-Jefferson Civic Center Birmingham, Alabama |
| Mar 9, 1983* TVS | | vs. Georgia Semifinals | L 60–79 | 19–11 | Birmingham-Jefferson Civic Center Birmingham, Alabama |
| NCAA tournament ||||||
| Mar 18, 1983* | (8 ME) | vs. (9 ME) Marquette First round | W 57–56 | 20–11 | Roberts Municipal Stadium Evansville, Illinois |
| Mar 20, 1983* | (8 ME) | vs. (1 ME) No. 2 Louisville Second round | L 57–70 | 20–12 | Roberts Municipal Stadium Evansville, Illinois |
| *Non-conference game. $^#$Rankings from AP poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. ME=Mideast. All times are in Eastern Time. ||||||

## NBA draft

| Round | Pick | Player | NBA Club |
| 1 | 9 | Dale Ellis | Dallas Mavericks |