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Jordan Gainey, Felix Okpara available for No. 5 Tennessee at LSU

IMG_3593by:Grant Ramey•about 12 hours•

GrantRamey

Jordan Gainey, Tennessee Basketball | Andrew Ferguson, Tennessee Athletics
Jordan Gainey, Tennessee Basketball | Andrew Ferguson, Tennessee Athletics

Tennessee senior guard Jordan Gainey will be available for Tuesday night’s game at LSU while dealing with flu-like symptoms. Junior center Felix Okpara is also available after being removed from the SEC pregame injury report Tuesday, after being listed as probable on Monday night.

Gainey was listed as a game-time decision on the pregame injury report while dealing with flu-like symptoms.

No. 5 Tennessee (22-5, 9-5 SEC) and LSU (14-13, 3-11) are scheduled for a 9 p.m. Eastern Time start on SEC Network. The Tigers listed forward Jalen Reed out on the Monday night injury report.

Okpara is dealing with a left knee issue. He was a partial participant in practice Monday at Food City Center in Knoxville. Gainey was a full participant.

Okpara was listed as questionable Friday night, ahead of Tennessee’s 77-69 win at Texas A&M, but was removed from the pregame injury report and started against the Aggies. He played 30 minutes in the win, finishing with four points and seven rebounds.

Okpara has also been dealing with an ankle/foot injury that initially happened in practice on February 10, the day before Tennessee’s 75-64 loss at Kentucky. He was listed as probable for the Kentucky game, playing 33 minutes against the Wildcats. He played 34 minutes against Vanderbilt last Saturday.

Jordan Gainey this season: 10.7 points, 3.5 rebounds, 1.9 assists

Gainey is averaging 10.7 points, 3.5 rebound and 1.9 assists in 27.7 minutes per game off the bench as Tennessee’s sixth man this season. He scored 10 of his 14 points in the final 6:12 in the win at Texas A&M on Saturday. He has scored in double-digits 14 times this season, including a season-high 23 in the win at Illinois in December. 

Okpara is averaging 7.4 points, 6.3 rebounds and 1.7 blocks in 24.9 minutes per game, starting all 27 games this season. 

The Vols did not have a midweek game last week, giving banged up players a chance to rest.

“You’d like to give them rest obviously,” Tennessee coach Rick Barnes said before practice Friday, “but for us, with the injuries that we had, the ones that, whether it’s a calf strain, a big toe, those things that are hard to get right. A week won’t do it, but it helps and I think, hopefully it’s helped us as we get back into it now.”

Tennessee down to nine scholarship players available

The injury bug initially bit the Vols in November when sophomore forward JP Estrella had season-ending foot surgery and sophomore wing Cam Carr had surgery to repair a torn ligament in his thumb. Carr transferred out of the program on December 23, landing at Baylor last month. 

Tennessee started the season with 11 of a possible 13 scholarship players on roster.

Both senior point guard Zakai Zeigler and Igor Milicic Jr. missed the 64-44 win over Florida on February 1, with Zeigler out with a right knee injury and Milicic ruled out due to an illness. Both players returned for the follow game, a win over Missouri.

Tennessee returns home to host No. 6 Alabama on Saturday at Food City Center. The Vols close the regular-season schedule with a road game at Ole Miss on March 5 and Senior Day against South Carolina on March 8 in Knoxville.

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