Rick Barnes shares significant update on Santiago Vescovi ahead of Elite Eight clash
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Rick Barnes gave an encouraging update on Tennessee wing Santiago Vescovi on Saturday afternoon.
Vescovi, who missed UT’s win over Creighton in the Sweet 16 due to illness, is expected to suit up on Sunday vs. Purdue in the Elite Eight. The Tennessee coach told reporters on Saturday that Vescovi is “looked better” after another day’s rest.
“He looked better today. He’s with us. We won’t obviously do very much today,” Barnes said. “We’ll just see really more so tomorrow, I think once we get going. We expect him to be ready.”
Barnes said Vescovi has been “quarantined” from the team, but still held out hope that he could play vs. Creighton until his fever came back in the lead-up to the game.
“Well, he was sick. You just had to look at him,” Barnes added. “We obviously tried to quarantine him as quick as we could to keep him away from the team, but when we were around him and he was seeing everything we were doing by Zoom in his room, knowing if there’s any way possible — Santi, as you guys know, has a great basketball IQ, and he knows what we’re doing as well as I know what we’re trying to get done.
“He just couldn’t. He did break the fever, and we thought he was going to be okay, then the fever came back. But you could tell, just when we were around him, he looked like he had no energy. We hate it for him because he’s been such a huge part of the program and obviously is. I just hope today he feels like he’s got some energy back.”
Jahmai Mashack filled in for Vescovi in the starting lineup against Creighton. He played well, scoring 4 points on 3 shots while hauling in 8 rebounds (including 5 on the offensive glass).
Vescovi is a veteran in Tennessee’s rotation, although he hasn’t had as big of an offensive impact this season. He’s averaged a career-low 6.5 points and 2.3 assists per game this season despite starting 34 games for the Vols.
His usage has also dropped to a career-low 13.6%, which is likely due to the emergence of transfer Dalton Knecht as one of college basketball’s best scorers.
Still, despite his lesser role on offense, Vescovi is an important part of Tennessee’s rotation. He played 25.6 minutes per game this season and shot 35% from 3-point range during SEC action.
According to EvanMiya’s BPR metric, Vescovi has been Tennessee’s third-most impactful player this season. If he were to miss the game, that model estimates his absence would be worth approximately 1.27 points against the point spread.
As it currently stands, Tennessee is a 3-point underdog to Purdue according to the latest odds from DraftKings. The Vols went 2-3 against the spread as an underdog this season. If you’re interested in betting on this game, here’s all you need to know about Tennessee online sports betting prior to tipoff.
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A lot of Vescovi’s value to Tennessee comes on the defensive end of the floor. The Vols’ back court will have their hands full as they attempt to defend Purdue’s deep stable of perimeter shooters, including Braden Smith, Fletcher Loyer and Mason Gillis.
Tipoff against Purdue is set for 2:20 p.m. ET on Sunday afternoon.
Spenser is a news editor for Saturday Down South and covers college football across all Saturday Football brands.
