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Live Updates: Tennessee basketball's exhibition game Friday in Italy

IMG_3593by:Grant Ramey•08/04/23•

GrantRamey

Tennessee Basketball
Tennessee basketball's Cade Phillips and Jordan Gainey during a boat tour of Lake Como in Italy (Tennessee Athletics)

The first glance at Tennessee’s new-look basketball team will take place Thursday afternoon when the Vols play an exhibition game against the Lithuania U21 National Team in Florence, Italy. The game is scheduled for a 1 p.m. Eastern Time start and can be live-streamed through FloSports.

FloSports offers a monthly subscription at $30 per month and can be cancelled at any time. It’s the first of three exhibition games Tennessee will play during it’s 10-day tour through Italy. 

Follow along with all the live in-game updates from Friday’s game on The General’s Quarters

The Vols face the Lithuania U21 team again on Saturday, another 1 p.m. Eastern Time start in Florence, and on Monday will face A.S. Stella Azzura at 1:30 p.m. Eastern Time in Rome. 

Tennessee vs. Lithuania U21, Friday, 1 p.m. Eastern Time

Tennessee flew to Italy on Monday, beginning the trip in Milan and the Lake Como region. The Vols bussed to Florence on Thursday and will ride a train to Rome on Sunday. 

“I think when you go on these trips it is as much to reward these guys for a commitment to us and (to) give them an experience,” Tennessee coach Rick Barnes said before the trip. “As you know, they all want to be professional basketball players … I think it is a great time to get exposure to a different country and to people that will see them as well — realize there is a vast world out there. There are a lot of basketball opportunities around the world.”

The Vols toured the Milan Cathedral on Tuesday, took a boat tour of Lake Como on Wednesday and stopped at the Ferrari museum on Thursday. They’ll also tour the Florence Cathedral and will make stops in Rome at the Pantheon, Trevi Fountain, Spanish Steps, Colosseum and the Vatican City.

‘It is more than just games on this trip’

On the floor, the exhibition games will be the unofficial debuts for transfers Dalton Knecht, the wing from Northern Colorado, and Jordan Gainey, the combo guard from USC Upstate, as well as freshman forward JP Estrella and freshman wing Cam Carr. Point guard Freddie Dilione and wing DJ Jefferson are coming off redshirt seasons as freshmen, too.

“With this team, we’ve been going at each other here all summer,” Barnes said. “Going out and playing a couple games over there is a good thing but it is more than just games on this trip.”

Junior point guard Zakai Zeigler remains sidelined while coming back from the torn ACL he suffered on February 28. Tennessee returns fifth-year seniors Santiago Vescovi and Josiah-Jordan James, along with junior center Jonas Aidoo, junior wing Jahmai Mashack and sophomore power forward Tobe Awaka.

“I think our older guys have done a good job of teaching,” Barnes said of his team’s progress so far this summer. “I think they’ve done a good job with our culture that we talk about and everybody talks about it. 

“That comes when you get older guys that can say this is the way we do it here, this is what is expected.”

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