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Santiago Vescovi named SEC basketball player of the week

IMG_3593by:Grant Ramey•11/28/22•

GrantRamey

Tennessee senior guard Santiago Vescovi drives against Kansas in the Battle 4 Atlantis (Tennessee Athletics)
Tennessee senior guard Santiago Vescovi drives against Kansas in the Battle 4 Atlantis (Tennessee Athletics)

The SEC on Monday announced Tennessee senior guard Santiago Vescovi as the conference player of the week. 

Vescovi was also named the Battle 4 Atlantis MVP after leading the 13th-ranked Vols (5-1) to the tournament championship in the Bahamas with three wins in three days, beating Butler, USC and then-No. 3 Kansas.

“Tennessee guard Santiago Vescovi, a 6-foot-3, 192-pound senior from Montevideo, Uruguay, averaged 13.3 points, 4.3 rebounds and, 3.3 steals in wins over Butler, Southern California, and No. 3 Kansas,” the SEC announced on Monday. “He was named MVP of the Battle4Atlantis tournament after scoring a game-high 20 points with five made threes while also pulling down six rebounds in the championship game victory over Kansas. Had a game-high five assists with seven points and four rebounds while also hitting the go-ahead 3-pointer in overtime during the win over USC.

Tennessee returns home to host McNeese State (2-4) on Wednesday, a 7:15 p.m. Eastern Time start on SEC Network.

Santiago Vescovi had 40 points, 13 rebounds, 10 assists in Battle 4 Atlantis

Vescovi totaled 40 points over the three games in the Bahamas, with 13 rebounds, 10 assists and five steals.

Tennessee won the tournament — its first in-season, holiday tournament title since winning the 2010 NIT Season Tip-Off — without senior wing Josiah-Jordan James (knee soreness). James is the team’s leading scorer (13.7 points per game) and rebounder (6.0) through the first six games of the season.

“I think the main takeaway from the whole week was stay together through tough times,” Vescovi said Friday night after Tennessee’s 64-50 win over Kansas. “That’s what you have to do. If you start spreading out, it’s going to go bad. I think if we stay together, and that’s what we did the whole week, we know we’re missing Josiah, he’s a really big part of this team. 

“I still think he pretty much led the team from the bench. His voice was incredible. He was just like another coach from the bench too. I’ve got to give him a lot of credit, too, for not just staying out, for staying active with all the guys. The main thing is just staying together.”

Up Next: Tennessee vs. McNeese State, Wednesday, 7:15 p.m. ET, SEC Network

Vescovi led Tennessee with 20 points in the win over Kansas, with 14 more from Zakai Zeigler. Tyreke Key scored 10. Five-star freshman Julian Phillips had a breakout performance Thursday against USC, with 25 points and eight rebounds in the 73-66 overtime win. 

Vescovi scored 13 points, Phillips had 11 and Zeigler scored 10 in the 71-45 win over Butler to open the tournament on Wednesday.

“We know how championships are, in terms of you get three games straight, the other team does too. We’re all on the same page. I thought the whole team did a good job. People from the bench came with a lot of energy — Zakai (Zeigler), Jahmai (Mashack), Jonas (Aidoo) — a lot of people that took place in this championship.”

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