Tennessee provides injury update on Santiago Vescovi's availability in Elite 8 vs. No. 1 Purdue
Coming into the day on Sunday, it was unclear if the Tennessee Volunteers would have fifth-year guard Santiago Vescovi. However, it now looks like he’s going to be able to play in the Elite Eight against the Purdue Boilermakers.
Vescovi was seen warming up ahead of the game. This came after he missed Tennessee’s Sweet 16 game due to illness.
The Tennessee Volunteers and Purdue Boilermakers are scheduled for a 2:20 p.m. Eastern Time start for their Elite Eight game. The winner will advance to the Final Four. For the Volunteers, this is just the second time in program history that the men have made it to the Elite Eight and if they beat Purdue, it will be the program’s first trip to the Final Four.
This season, Santiago Vescovi has been a key player for Tennessee. He brings experience to their lineup and has started 34 games and is averaging 6.5 points, 3.7 rebounds, and 2.5 assists per game. That, along with his impact on the defensive end, should help the Volunteers in a very tough matchup against Purdue.
Prior to the update that Vescovi was going to be able to play, head coach Rick Barnes shared just how severe the illness was that knocked Vescovi out of the Sweet 16. That was a game against Creighton, which the Volunteers managed to win by seven points.
“He was sick. You just had to look at him. 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,” Barnes said.
“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.”
The Elite Eight matchup between Tennessee and Purdue is their second meeting this season. The previous game was during the Maui Invitational Tournament, which Purdue won by four points. Santiago Vescovi had eight points and four rebounds in that game.