GAME NOTES: The Santa Clara Broncos and Tennessee Volunteers will open up play in the 2014 Orlando Classic as they take the floor at the HP Field House on Thanksgiving Day.

Kerry Keating's Broncos opened the 2014-15 season with two victories at home, posting double-digit wins over both Cal State Fullerton (89-72) and San Diego Christian (70-58). The road hasn't been as kind to Santa Clara, which enters this tournament on a two-game slide, with road losses at Utah State (60-54) and most recently, Michigan State (79-52). Keating was an assistant at Tennessee under Buzz Peterson (2001-03).

Donnie Tyndale is in his first season in Knoxville as the head coach. The Volunteers haven't been as active as many teams out there, with only two games under their belts thus far. The had a tough assignment right out of the gate and fell on the losing end of a 85-69 decision to nationally-ranked VCU. Tennessee was able to get some distance from the loss however, with last week's 70-58 win over Texas Southern to pull even on the year at 1-1.

Tennessee won the only previous meeting with Santa Clara, an 80-76 decision in the 1973 Rainbow Classic.

The Broncos buried themselves in the first half at Michigan State, going just 5-of-30 from the floor in the first half and trailing the Spartans 40-14 at the break. While the team found a little rhythm in the second half, the deficit was simply too much to overcome. Jared Brownridge was the only Bronco to net double digits in the lopsided loss, finishing with 12 points, although he struggled with a 3-of-12 effort from the floor. Brandon Clark and Denzel Johnson added nine points apiece for Santa Clara, which shot a meager 29 percent from the floor in the contest.

Efficient play at the offensive end has been a bit of a problem for Santa Clara in the early going, as the team is averaging 66.2 ppg on a modest 41 percent shooting. The team is also getting outrebounded by three boards per contest. Clark shoots just 35 percent from the floor but a heavy volume of shots has resulted in an inflated scoring average of 17.5 ppg. He has done a solid job distributing, doling out 5.5 assists per game. Brownridge is the only other Bronco currently in double-digit scoring at 12.0 ppg, although Johnson (9.8 ppg) is far off the mark.

Although the sample size is smaller, a similar scenario is unfolding with Tennessee, as the team isn't the most explosive on the offensive end. Through two games, the team is netting just 69.5 ppg and shooting .426 from the floor and just .600 from the free-throw line. Josh Richardson is the go-to-guy for the Vols and is off to a nice start at 18.0 ppg. Detrick Mostella and Kevin Punter add 11.5 and 10.5 ppg, respectively.

A tight contest throughout, the Tennessee started pulling away down the stretch against Texas Southern and won its 23rd straight home opener. Richardson had a strong game, finishing with 19 points and eight rebounds. Punter added 13 points to the cause, while Armani Moore and Willie Carmichael tacked on 11 and 10 points, respectively. The Volunteers shot just .344 from the field in the first half, but used a .538 effort after the break to earn the win.

Neither team is an offensive juggernaut, so this shouldn't be a high scoring affair. That being said, look for Tennessee to earn the win, as the Vols are a little bit deeper.