Tennessee updates the status of Santiago Vescovi for Sunday's Elite 8 game vs. Purdue

DETROIT — Tennessee basketball coach Rick Barnes said Saturday afternoon that he expects fifth-year senior guard Santiago Vescovi to be ready for Sunday’s game against Purdue in the Elite Eight at Little Caesars Arena. 

“He looked better today,” Barnes said. “He’s with us. We won’t obviously do very much today. We’ll just see really more so tomorrow, I think once we get going. We expect him to be ready.”

Vescovi (illness) did not play in the 82-75 win over Creighton Friday night in Sweet 16. He didn’t practice Wednesday in Knoxville or Thursday in Detroit, before missing his first game of the season and just his fourth in his 152-game career with the Vols.

No. 2 Tennessee (27-8) faces No. 1 Purdue (32-4) in the NCAA Tournament Midwest Regional final at 2:20 p.m. Eastern Time Sunday on CBS. The Boilermakers advanced with an 80-68 win over No. 5 Gonzaga.

Santiago Vescovi this season: 6.5 points, 3.7 rebounds, 2.5 assists in 25.6 minutes per game

The Vols in the win over Creighton got 26 points and six rebounds from Dalton Knecht. Josiah-Jordan James had 17 points, going 3-for-5 from the 3-point line and 6-for-6 at the foul line and Zakai Zeigler added 18 points, six assists and four rebounds in 40 minutes. 

“He was definitely in the back of my mind the entire game,” James said of Vescovi in the locker room after the win. “Just wanting to be able to give him an opportunity to get out there on Sunday when we play. Knowing that he wasn’t going be able to play today, it hurts. It sucks a lot and I know that if he could’ve played, he would’ve played. 

“But he’s a great cheerleader, a great teammate like he always is. We definitely wanted to, me personally and everybody in this locker room, wanted to get this game one for him.”

Tennessee started junior guard Jahmai Mashack in Vescovi’s place, forced to change the starting lineup for the first time in 28 games. 

Vescovi, who started the first 34 games this season, averages 6.5 points, 3.7 rebounds and 2.5 assist in 25.6 minutes per game. He’s Tennessee’s all-time leader in starts (144) and became the program’s all-time leader in steals (212) when he recorded three steals in the second-round win over Texas. 

He went 1-for-4 from the field in the 62-58 win over the Longhorns, finishing with four rebounds and the three steals in 20 minutes.

“He was sick,” Barnes said of Vescovi. “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 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.”

Elite Eight: No. 2 Tennessee vs. No. 1 Purdue, Sunday, 2:20 p.m. ET, CBS

James said Tennessee players could tell Vescovi wasn’t going to be available for the Sweet 16 game when they went throughout shoot around Friday afternoon.

“I’ve been around Santi five years,” James said. “You know when Santi is in good spirits and you know when he’s not. The flu, I had it earlier this year. It is no joke. It takes a lot out of you. And I learned about it just when everybody else did earlier today at shoot around that he probably wouldn’t go.”

The message without Vescovi was getting to the next round and giving him another chance to get on the floor. 

“It was something that we talked about as a group,” James said, “just trying to get this win for him. He means so much to me, so much to this program and we wouldn’t be in this position without him. 

“So going out there and giving our effort like he would, that’s what we talked about, just playing like Santi, playing balls to the wall. And we were able to get the job done.”