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Santiago Vescovi's thoughts at the foul line? 'Just make a freaking free throw'

IMG_3593by:Grant Ramey•02/16/23•

GrantRamey

Santiago Vescovi
(Photo by Eakin Howard/Getty Images)

Santiago Vescovi stepped to the foul line with one minute, 18 seconds left Wednesday night inside a sold-out Thompson-Boling Arena. No. 10 Tennessee led No. 1 Alabama by eight points. It was time for the Vols to close the game at the stripe. 

But the senior guard missed the front end of the one-and-one at the line. Then Alabama’s Jahvon Quinerly hit a three on the other end to make it a five-point game with 56 seconds left after a four-point swing.

This wasn’t happening again, was it?

It was a missed free throw from Vescovi at Vanderbilt a week earlier that left the door open for the Commodores to hit a walk-off corner 3-point shot as the buzzer sounded in a 66-65 win over the Vols.

He missed another pair of free throws with four seconds left against Missouri Saturday night, giving the Tigers enough life to hit a long, running three as time expired. A desperation heave that stunned Tennessee at the horn again, 86-85.

So what was Vescovi, a 79.8 percent free-throw shooter for his career, thinking this time around?

“Not many things,” he said after the game.

Well, not many things he could say out loud during his postgame press conference.

“I can’t use the word,” Vescovi continued. “But make a freaking free throw was what was going through my head at that point … just try to focus on that.”

Santiago Vescovi against Alabama: 15 points, 8 rebounds, 3 steals, 4-10 FG, 3-6 3FG, 4-5 FT

There was enough focus for Vescovi to hit four free throws in the final 41 seconds as Tennessee won 68-59 over Alabama, upsetting the top-ranked Crimson Tide only two days after they moved to No. 1 in the rankings.

Vescovi played as big of a role as anyone for the Vols (20-6, 9-4 SEC), scoring 12 of his 15 points in the second half while adding eight rebounds and three steals. He scored eight points over the first nine minutes after halftime, ending the night shooting 4-for-10 from the field, 3-for-6 from the 3-point line and a team-best 4-for-5 at the foul line.

Zakai Zeigler matched Vescovi’s 15 points, adding eight assists, and sophomore center Jonas Aidoo had his first career double-double, with 12 points and 11 rebounds to go with three blocks.

“You look at Santi and Z’s numbers, they were outstanding,” Tennessee coach Rick Barnes said after the game. “But when plays needed to be made, players made plays.”

Up Next: No. 10 Tennessee at Kentucky, Saturday, 1 p.m. ET, CBS

Barnes never had doubt it would be Vescovi making his share of those plays. 

Saturday night, after Tennessee somehow found itself on the business end of a second straight buzzer-beater, Barnes stuck by Vescovi. 

“I can’t tell you how bad I feel for Santi,” Barnes said after the loss to Missouri. “He knows it. He will be back there again. I think he will grow from it.”

The head coach just kept repeating it, too.

“We all hurt for Santi,” Barnes said.

“I just hate it, hate it for Santi,” he added later.

Against Alabama, Vescovi proved he didn’t forget how to make clutch free throws. And the Vols proved they haven’t forgotten how to close out games.

“Knowing that we are a mature team,” Vescovi said, “we are able to finish games. The last couple games with mistakes or no, I think we also got pretty unlucky. Give them credit. Both teams played great basketball. 

“(The Alabama game), I think, gave us a little bit of confidence … we even knew coming in to the game that we just needed to get our swagger back.”

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