Tennessee Basketball: Rick Barnes updates the availability of Santiago Vescovi for Maryland game

Santiago Vescovi missed a second straight game for No. 7 Tennessee against Eastern Kentucky Wednesday night with a sprained left shoulder, but head coach Rick Barnes said during his postgame press conference that the senior shooting guard could be back for Sunday’s game against No. 13 Maryland.

“I think he is,” Barnes said when asked if Vescovi was on track to play against the Terrapins in the Hall of Fame Invitational game at Barclays Center in Brooklyn.

Barnes said Vescovi was shooting earlier on Wednesday during Tennessee’s shoot around early on Wednesday. The Vols beat Eastern Kentucky 84-49 Wednesday night for their seventh straight win.

“He was down on the other end actually shooting the ball some today,” Barnes said. “(Trainer) Chad (Newman) does a great job. (Vescovi) told me today, he was the first person I saw and he told me he felt better today but he still has a couple more days.

“Tomorrow we will be off and then we’ll have Friday and Saturday to get ready for that game.”

Tennessee (8-1) and Maryland (8-1) are scheduled for a 4:30 p.m. Eastern Time start on Sunday in New York. The game will be televised by Fox Sports 1. Barnes said Monday night during his weekly appearance on The Vol Network’s ‘Vol Calls’ radio show that Vescovi has a “Level 2” sprain in his left, shooting shoulder.

“He felt better (on Monday),” Barnes said at the time. “Santi is the kind of guy that if you asked him to play, he would say, yeah, I’ll play. He’s just a tough guy. He would play though anything.

“He’s got a Level 2 sprain there in the shoulder,” Barnes said of the injury Vescovi suffered late in the 74-40 win over McNeese State last week, “came down against his left arm.”

Tennessee still limiting minutes for Josiah-Jordan James (knee)

Josiah-Jordan James returned Sunday in Tennessee’s 94-40 win over Alcorn State after missing four games due to knee soreness. On Wednesday he played 17 minutes off the bench after playing 14 against Alcorn.

James has struggled to find his shot in his return, scoring three points over the last two games while going 1-for-12 from the field and 0-for-8 from the 3-point line.

Barnes said after Wednesday’s game he has no concerns over his senior wing’s shooting ability.

“There’s no doubt he’s going to shoot the ball well,” he said. “I mean every time it leaves his hand, it looks like it’s going to go in.”

James had one point against Eastern Kentucky, going 0-for-7 from the floor and 0-for-4 from the 3-point line. When he was sidelined with the knee issue last month, he was Tennessee’s leading scorer (13.7 points per game) and rebounder (6.0).

Barnes and his staff are continuing to limit the minutes for James, who said on Sunday that his knee remains “a game-by-game thing.”

“We have a plan we’re trying to work him back through,” Barnes said. “I’m not sure where it will be after (this), where we’ll progress him to. I’m sure after each game he’s doing everything he needs to do. He’s changed his diet, he’s done everything he can to do all he can to try to get himself right.”

Tyreke Key left game against Eastern Kentucky with cramp

Tyreke Key scored 12 of his 17 points in the second half to lead Tennessee in the win over Eastern Kentucky. He left the game 6:15 left in the second half, though, after going down with what appeared to be a right leg injury.

Newman checked him out on the floor before he had to be helped off by strength coach Garrett Medenwald. Key said after the game it was nothing more than a cramp, though.

“I just kept cramping up,” he said.

Key’s 17 points were his most since the 17 he scored in the season-opening win over Tennessee Tech on November 7. It was his fourth straight game scoring in double figures.

The Indiana State transfer shooting guard is still adjusting to being a ball-handler while the Vols continue to play shorthanded.

“With Santi being out, with Josiah being out, two guys that we rely on to handle the ball,” Barnes said, “I think he hasn’t been able to totally get settled into the role that I think he’ll eventually play. But yet I think it’s been really good for him, because I think he’s proven he’s much more than a guy that can just get going on the offensive end.”