Holiday hoops have arrived for the Tennessee men's basketball team.

The Vols (2-0) open the Battle 4 Atlantis bracket at noon Eastern Time against No. 18 Purdue (4-0), the first of three games in three days at Imperial Arena inside Atlantis at Paradise Island, Bahamas.

Follow along in the comments below with GoVols247 basketball writers Wes Rucker and Grant Ramey in our official game-day thread on The CheckerBoard.

Our game-day thread is to open to all free readers and VIP subscribers, but some posts will be seen only by our VIP subscribers.

(Want the latest scoop on Tennessee football and basketball? Make sure you're in the loop — take five seconds to sign up for our FREE Vols newsletter now!)

On the Air: The noon Eastern Time game between Tennessee (2-0) and No. 18 Purdue (18-0) at Imperial Arena will be broadcast nationally on ESPN2 and available as an online live-stream on WatchESPN.com or on the ESPN app for mobile devices.

On the Radio: Today’s game will be broadcast, as always, on the Vol Network's flagship station, Sports Radio 99.1 WNML, with play-by-play from John Wilkerson. It's also available to be streamed online on the WNML website.

Last Time Out: Lamonte Turner and Jordan Bone led Tennessee with 16 points each and Admiral Schofield added another 14 as the Vols rolled to an 84-53 win over High Point on Nov. 14 at Thompson-Boling Arena. Tennessee used a 32-0 run covering the majority of the first half to build a 52-13 lead at the break.

On the Opponent: Purdue, averaging 102.0 points per game through its first four games, has a starting five that consists of four seniors and a sophomore, with all five averaging in double-figures so far this season. Guards Dakota Mathias (17.3), P.J. Thompson (10.3) and Carsen Edwards (18.5) combine to average 46.1 points per game, while 7-foot-2 forward Isaac Haas and 6-8 forward Vincent Edwards combine for 28.5 points and 15.0 rebounds per game in the post.

What's Next: Tennessee will play either No. 5 Villanova or Western Kentucky on Thursday at Atlantis. If the Vols win, they'll play at 12:30 p.m. Eastern Time on Day 2 in the Bahamas. If they lose, they'll tipoff at 7 p.m. Eastern Time.

Get VIP access to GoVols247 with a FREE 7-DAY TRIAL

———————————————

Contact Grant Ramey by email at grant.ramey@cbsinteractive.com or on Twitter (@GrantRamey), or FOLLOW GOVOLS247 ON FACEBOOK.